Skimming Bluet
Enallagma geminatum
They fly so close to the water's surface that they are often overlooked by larger aerial predators, effectively hiding in plain sight.
- Scientific name
- Enallagma geminatum
- Taxonomy
- Animalia › Arthropoda › Insecta › Odonata › Coenagrionidae › Enallagma
- IUCN Red List status
- Least Concern
- Population trend
- stable
- Biome
- wetland
- Habitat
- Ponds, lakes, marshes, and slow-moving streams with abundant floating vegetation like water lilies.
- Diet
- Carnivorous; eats mosquitoes, gnats, midges, and other small flying insects.
- Range
- United States, Canada
- Size
- 20 to 28 mm (0.8 to 1.1 inches) in length.
- Lifespan
- 1 to 2 months as adults (up to 1 year total including the aquatic nymph stage).
- Active
- diurnal
- Threats
- Wetland drainage, chemical runoff, water pollution, and loss of native aquatic shoreline vegetation.
- Safe to approach?
- Harmless. These tiny damselflies are completely safe to observe at close range. They do not bite or sting humans. Avoid handling them, as their wings and limbs are extremely fragile.
Enallagma geminatum , the skimming bluet , is a species of narrow-winged damselfly in the family Coenagrionidae. It is found in North America.
Photo: Jimmy Dee, CC-BY-SA, via iNaturalist
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