Australian Bluetail

Fascinating facts about the Australian Bluetail

• The common bluetail is the largest of the three Ischnura species in Australia. It is usually seen hovering close to slow-running or still water such as ponds and streams.
• The common bluetail can tolerate salty water. It still prefers slow-running or still water, so you will often see it near the edges of lakes, lagoons or tidal pools.
• Adult common bluetails are on the wing from October through March. During this period they are seen near ponds, lakes and slow streams.
• The common bluetail is found throughout the whole of Australia, including Tasmania. Its presence is not limited to a single region.
• Male common bluetails are instantly recognisable by their bright blue eyes, a blue thorax and a tail ringed in blue, giving the insect its vivid name. Females, by contrast, display a range of colour forms that can be green, brown, black or even closely resemble the male pattern. This sexual dimorphism means observers may see very different colourations within the same species. The variation in female colour also includes a form that mimics the male's striking blue.

Sources

Every fact above was checked against these pages, and kept only where one of them states it.

• Wikipedia

At a glance

About the Australian Bluetail

As the Australian Bluetail dances across the sun-drenched waters, its iridescent blue tail glimmers like a shard of splintered sky, leaving a trail of mesmerized onlookers in its wake. With a delicate flutter, this diminutive dragonfly navigates the intricate network of aquatic vegetation, its agile form weaving in and out of the reeds with effortless precision. In its realm, the Australian Bluetail is a whirling dervish of color and light, a tiny, resplendent monarch of the marshes.

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