Familiar Bluet (Enallagma civile)

Familiar bluet
Male
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Clade:	Pancrustacea
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Odonata
Suborder:	Zygoptera
Family:	Coenagrionidae
Genus:	Enallagma
Species:	E. civile
Binomial name
Enallagma civile (Hagen, 1861)

The familiar bluet (Enallagma civile) is a narrow-winged damselfly of the family Coenagrionidae, which is native to much of the United States and southern Canada.^[1] In a broader sense, it is a part of the order, Odonata, an order that consists of predatory flying insects, such as dragonflies and damselflies.^[2] Damselflies are structurally similar to dragonflies, except damselflies have a slimmer body and they have widely-separated eyes; whereas dragonflies have larger eyes that nearly touch.^[3]

The familiar bluet resides in open marshes, artificially-created wetlands, or simply places where bodies of water and vegetation are located: lakes, ponds, or slow streams.^[4] It has a torpedo-shaped thorax that tapers into a slender abdomen, separated by an average of 10 segments, and it is on average 30-39 mm in length.^[5] The familiar bluet has a striking resemblance to the tule bluet, bearing the same sky-blue and black bodies, but differs due to the less heavy black coloration on the abdomen and thorax.

Familiar bluets display sexual dimorphism. Male familiar bluets have a distinct bright, blue color that covers the majority of its head and body and has jet-black spots that cover the dorsal portion of its eyes, segments and upper abdomen.^[4] Females are polymorphic; they may appear in nature as a pale blue or an olive-tan color. Females have a brown, tear-drop shaped coloration over its eyes, instead of the black coloration as seen on the males.^[4]

The genus, Enallagma, is one of the largest within the suborder Zygoptera, with about seventy species spanning most of North America and sub-Saharan Africa.^[6] Enallagma is divided into two smaller subgenera: Enallagma sensu stricto (meaning "Enallagma in the strict sense") and Chromatallagma. The subgroup Enallagma s.s. represents the typical bluets, including the familiar bluet and many other species located in many areas of North America, the Holarctic and Palearctic regions. The subgroup Chromatallagma typically reside in regions of North America, the Caribbean, and the northern South Africa. This subgroup contains species of damselflies with varying colors: males have a pale blue, red, orange, or yellow colored thorax; females are pale blue, green, tan or dull yellow to orange.^[6] (e.g., Enallagma vesperum, Enallagma signatum, and Enallagma weewa).

The species, Enallagma civile, was identified by German entomologist, Herman August Hagen, in 1861.^[7] However, it was originally identified by Hagen under the name, Agrion civile, in his scientific work called: Synopsis of the Neuroptera of North America.^[8] Agrion civil is the French scientific/common name for the familiar bluet (Enallagma civile).^[7]

The life cycle for damselflies and dragonflies is generally the same; they undergo a incomplete metamorphosis that is split into three stages: egg, nymph (larva), and adult.^[9]

• "Enallagma civile". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 9 February 2006.
• Lam, E. (2004) Damselflies of the Northeast. Forest Hills, NY:Biodiversity Books. p. 72.

• Familiar bluet Diagnostic reference photographs and information
• Citizen science observations for Familiar bluet at iNaturalist