Common Bluetail

Fascinating facts about the Common Bluetail

• Males and females don't just look different — they're practically separate species. Female common bluetails come in three distinct colour forms, some mimicking males to avoid harassment, others bright orange as a warning. Scientists call this 'polymorphism', and it means a single pond can hold what looks like three different dragonfly species flying together, all one species, all the same age.
• A common bluetail's eyes wrap almost 360 degrees around its head, giving it blind spots only directly behind and below. But here's the catch: they see ultraviolet light invisible to humans, watching for the UV reflections off a rival male's wings from 10 metres away. Their vision is so tuned to motion that a stationary insect might as well be invisible.
• Mating lasts just 90 seconds, but the male stays locked to the female for hours afterward — literally gripping her with claspers at the tip of his abdomen. He's not being romantic; he's guarding. Other males will try to displace him, and if they succeed, they erase his sperm before adding their own. Some females lay eggs while still being held captive.
• These dragonflies hunt by hanging motionless in the air for up to 90 seconds, then accelerating to 40 kilometres per hour in a single wingbeat. Their four wings move independently — the front pair can angle upward while the back pair push down — letting them hover like a helicopter, then dart sideways like a fighter jet without turning their body.
• A common bluetail spends at least a year underwater as a nymph, hunting tadpoles and mosquito larvae with a hinged lower jaw that springs open in 25 milliseconds — faster than you can blink. The moment it crawls onto a reed to transform into a flying adult, it has weeks to hunt, mate, and lay eggs before dying. This entire terrestrial life phase lasts only 30 days.

At a glance

About the Common Bluetail

As the sun casts its warm rays upon the tranquil waters, the Common Bluetail dances across the surface, its iridescent blue tail glimmering like a shard of sapphire as it flits from lily pad to lily pad. With a delicate touch, it alights upon a blade of grass, its slender body swaying gently in the breeze as it surveys its surroundings with an unblinking gaze. In this serene and idyllic world, the Common Bluetail is a whirling dervish of color and movement, its very existence a testament to the beauty and wonder that awaits in the hidden corners of our natural world.

Discover more wildlife