The boreal bluet (''Enallagma boreale'') is a species of
damselfly
Damselflies are flying insects of the suborder Zygoptera in the order Odonata. They are similar to dragonflies (which constitute the other odonatan suborder, Epiprocta) but are usually smaller and have slimmer bodies. Most species fold the win ...
in the
family
Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...
Coenagrionidae
Coenagrionidae is a family of damselflies, also known as pond damselflies, in the order Odonata and the suborder Zygoptera. The Zygoptera are the damselflies, which although less known than the dragonflies, are no less common. More than 1,300 spec ...
.
Description
Adult
The boreal bluet is a small damselfly with a length of 1 to 1.6 inches (26 to 40 mm) long. The male is predominately blue on the sides of its thorax, and the upper side of its abdomen. Its lower abdominal appendages are longer than its upper appendages. The female's body is greenish-yellow to brown color. The upper side of its abdomen is mostly black.
Nymph
The nymph of the boreal bluet is small in size with a length of 0.75 to 1 inch (19 to 23 mm). It has the typical slender shape of many immature damselflies. Nymphs range in color from light to dark brown.
Distribution
*United States: (
Alaska
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Arizona
Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...
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California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
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Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...
•
Connecticut
Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...
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Idaho
Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...
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Iowa
Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...
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Indiana
Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...
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Massachusetts
Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...
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Maine
Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...
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Michigan
Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...
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Missouri
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Montana
Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...
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New Hampshire
New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...
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New Jersey
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New Mexico
New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...
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Ohio
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Pennsylvania
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Rhode Island
Rhode Island ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Is ...
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U.S. Virgin Islands
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Utah
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Vermont
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Washington
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Wisconsin
Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...
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West Virginia
West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...
)
*Canada: (
Alberta
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British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...
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Manitoba
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New Brunswick
New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...
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Northwest Territories
The Northwest Territories is a federal Provinces and territories of Canada, territory of Canada. At a land area of approximately and a 2021 census population of 41,070, it is the second-largest and the most populous of Provinces and territorie ...
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Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...
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Nunavut
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Ontario
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Prince Edward Island
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Quebec
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Saskatchewan
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Yukon
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Newfoundland
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)
Habitat
The boreal bluet occurs along lakes, ponds, marshes, and streams with slow to moderate flow. This species occurs in a wide variety of habitats, from sagebrush desert to mountain lakes.
Flight season
Boreal bluets can have a flight season of early June to late August. They also have a flight season from late March to late September.
Diet
Adult
The boreal bluet eats a wide variety of small soft-bodied flying insects, including mosquitoes, mayflies, flies and small moths. They will sometimes pick small insects such as aphids from plants.
Nymph
The nymph eats a wide variety of aquatic insects, such as mosquito larvae, mayfly larvae, and other aquatic fly larvae.
Ecology
The boreal bluet looks almost identical to the
northern bluet. Even both of these species share similar ranges in North America, they are almost never found at the same body of water. Both the boreal bluet and the northern bluet are found early in the season. The reasons for this separation remains still unknown.
Reproduction
Male boreal bluets set up territories at their choice breeding sites. After both genders mate, the female boreal bluet oviposits in aquatic vegetation.
Similar species
Like many bluets in the
genus
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
Enallagma many species look similar to each other. The boreal bluet looks has similar to many bluet species. They include the
northern bluet,
familiar bluet,
Hagen's bluet,
marsh bluet, and
vernal bluet. It can be distinguished from familiar bluet by the large postocular spots and the shorter cerci. The characteristics shared by northern and boreal bluets are their large eyespots, and a mushroom-shaped black spot on abdominal segment S2. Its best seen dorsally.
Subspecies
''Enallagma boreale'' has two different subspecies. The following are the two subspecies:
*''
Enallagma boreale boreale''
*''
Enallagma boreale yezoense''
Conservation
Boreal bluet populations are currently widespread, abundant, and secure.
References
Ordonates FrameBoreal Bluet - Enallagma borealeWisconsin Odonata Survey - Enallagma borealeEnallagma boreale (Boreal Bluet)
*
{{Taxonbar, from=Q145272
Coenagrionidae
Odonata of North America
Insects of Canada
Insects of the United States
Fauna of the Eastern United States
Fauna of the Western United States
Insects described in 1875
Taxa named by Edmond de Sélys Longchamps