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How to Identify Blue Dragonflies

Watching an electric-blue flying machine swoop over water is an amazing experience. Blue dragonflies are sometimes mistaken for blue damselflies. A damselfly holds its wings parallel to its body when it is resting whereas a dragonfly holds its wings open. Their wings are often sparking in metallic hues as dragonflies dash around looking for insect prey or a place to drop their eggs. Insects from approximately 300 million years ago resemble the preset-day dragonflies and these ancient animals with beautiful wings and stunning bodies fascinate many people.

Things You'll Need

Binoculars
Sketchbook

Instructions

- 1
  Research online for pictures of damselflies and dragonflies. It is easiest to see the difference between damselflies and dragonflies when they are resting. It is more difficult when they are flying. Dragonflies have eyes that touch or nearly touch each other, whereas damselflies have separated eyes. Dragonflies also have stocky bodies and their wing pairs are dissimilar.
- 2
  Use the binoculars to study the dragonfly. Look at the colors of the wings, head, thorax and abdomen. Dragonflies can see in almost every direction the best way is to approach them from the rear, as their ability to see behind them is limited.
- 3
  Use a sketchbook and draw the colors of different body parts.
- 4
  Describe the area where you saw the dragonfly.
- 5
  Research online for dragonflies. The site odesforbeginners.com has photos of many common dragonflies in North America.
- 6
  Use the dragonfly's color to guide your search. Look at dragonflies that have blue in their name, for example, blue damsel.
- 7
  Look at the largest and most common families of dragonflies, that is, skimmers. Use the information about the area to narrow down the number of possible names.
- 8
  If you have not identified the dragonfly, continue to search among less-common families of dragonflies.

Insects & Science