{"id":9098,"date":"2026-07-25T14:35:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-25T14:35:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pawel.stefanoff.pl\/bugs\/?p=9098"},"modified":"2026-08-15T12:18:08","modified_gmt":"2026-08-15T12:18:08","slug":"2026-07-the-common-blue-damselfly-in-jarfalla-en","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pawel.stefanoff.pl\/bugs\/posts\/2026-07-the-common-blue-damselfly-in-jarfalla-en\/","title":{"rendered":"Floating on neon blue: Observing the common blue damselfly in J\u00e4rf\u00e4lla"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The common blue damselfly (<em>Enallagma cyathigerum<\/em>) is a striking aquatic predator whose brilliant blue hues light up watersides across Europe and Asia. Males are easily recognized by a distinct mushroom- or club-shaped black mark on the second segment of their abdomen, though newly emerged males initially display a muted pink or purple tint before maturing into vivid neon blue. Females showcase remarkable diversity with three distinct color morphs: blue, brown\/orange, and typical green. Their mating ritual can exceed 20 minutes, during which the male painstakingly removes sperm left by previous suitors to ensure his own paternity. Bold and adventurous, they fly low across open water and venture far beyond their home ponds into surrounding woods and grasslands. Beneath the surface, their larvae serve as vital mid-tier predators, hunting tiny aquatic insects while dodging fish within dense water plants. Visiting a lakeside recreation area in J\u00e4rf\u00e4lla, Sweden, I watched dozens of these damselflies hovering through the high grass\u2014it felt as though the very air was shimmering in neon blue.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The common blue damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum) is a striking aquatic predator whose brilliant blue hues light up watersides across Europe [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9099,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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