Flight season: early June to early September.
Population: common.
Best looked for late in the afternoon, flying over the water and perching on pondweeds and water lilies.
Prefers slow or still water habitats with aquatic vegetation,
the majority of local sightings are from the marshy north shore of Stoco Lake.
Length: about 35 mm, a thin, attenuated damselfly.
The only other orange damselfly apt to be encountered in our area is an immature female Eastern Forktail (Ischnura verticalis),
which has a shorter and more robust aspect, orange on S1 to S3, and no orange on S9.
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Tweed, Ontario, the north shore Stoco Lake, near the boat pier:
marshy shoreline, relatively shallow water with mud bottom supporting sedges and rushes, pondweeds, Fragrant Water Lily, Blue Flag, Sagittaria spp and Pickerelweed.
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Male Orange Bluet (Enallagma signatum) – certain damselfly species seem to suffer
from phoretic mites more than others, and this is one of them (June 07, 2010).
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Terminalia of a male Orange Bluet (Enallagma signatum) –
the long spatulate cerci and orange S9 are key field marks (July 01, 2010).
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Tweed, Ontario, the north shore Stoco Lake near the pavilion:
marshy shoreline, relatively shallow water with mud bottom supporting sedges and rushes, pondweeds, Fragrant Water Lily, Blue Flag, Sagittaria spp and Pickerelweed.
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Note the bold shoulder stripe of this teneral male Orange Bluet (Enallagma signatum) –
the shoulder stripe of a
Vesper Bluet
would be very narrow or so indistinct as to be virtually absent
(June 28, 2014).
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Orange Bluet (Enallagma signatum), tandem –
females are a dull greenish-orange, S10 is pale, with some black on S9
(June 28, 2014).
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East of Tweed, Ontario, near the intersection of Lajoie Rd. and the trans-Canada Trail:
a shady wooded area, with clearings both natural and created by the trail supporting grasses and wildflowers, the lagoon lies nearby to the northwest.
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Male Orange Bluet (Enallagma signatum)
July 20, 2014
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