2023
January Species of the Month: Familiar Bluet (Enallagma civile)
Male Familiar Bluet (Enallagma civile) damselfly, Floyd County, Texas. Photo by Danielle Husband (26 July 2021).
Our DSA January’s Species of the Month is the Familiar Bluet (Enallagma civile) in the Pond or Narrow-winged Damselfly family Coenagrionidae. Its length is approximately 28-39 mm (about one to one-and-a-half inches). The Familiar Bluet is one of the most common and widespread damselflies found in Canada, the U.S., and Mexico. Join Texas Tech McIntyre Lab graduate student Danielle Husband on a beautiful day of odonate research in the Texas Panhandle as she learns to appreciate this well-known species.
An Ode to the Common Ode
In 2019, I started my masters at Texas Tech in the McIntyre Lab. Little did I know I was entering a whole new world! Odonates, as my advisor Dr. Nancy McIntyre says, are the gateway insects that birders obsess over. So, I hung up my 10 x 42 birding binoculars, picked up a butterfly net, and headed to west Texas.
I admit that I knew next to nothing about odonates when I began. Sure, I could identify a few of the larger, more colorful dragonflies, but show me a blue damselfly and I was about as lost as they come. Fortunately, I had three tools at my disposal to guarantee odo-success: my advisor, Dr. Nancy McIntyre; Dennis Paulson’s Dragonflies and Damselflies of the West, and John Abbott’s Damselflies of Texas.
Male Familiar Bluet (Enallagma civile) damselfly perched in a playa, Floyd County, Texas. Photo by Danielle Husband (26 July 2021)
For my master’s degree research, I had to correctly identify adult odonates in order to report the species richnesses of four generalized wetland types. To put it in context, there are more than one hundred reported odonate species in the Texas Panhandle. I had my work cut out for me.
Boy, did the humble Familiar Bluet (Enallagma civile) throw me for a few loops in the early days. For some reason, my untrained eye wanted to turn every Familiar Bluet into a different flashy bluet species. Most afternoons I would send my advisor brown or blue damselfly photos, to which she would reply, “E. civile”. Again! Soon enough, however, I learned to identify these common damselflies.
Male Familiar Bluet (Enallagma civile) damselfly in hand, Floyd County, Texas. Photo by Danielle Husband (26 July 2021)
As I worked on my degree, I spent a lot of time writing and calling landowners to ask for permission to survey wetlands on their property. I lucked out with one beautiful “playa” site (similar to a desert basin) in Floyd County, Texas. It recently had been filled with rainwater…and odes! Familiar Bluets were sunning on any perch-able surface in this stunning wetland. It remains one of my favorite damselfly memories.
A lush Texas Panhandle playa on a clear day, Floyd County, Texas. Photo by Danielle Husband (26 July 2021).
Eventually, I came to appreciate the “familiarity” of the Familiar Bluet. They were consistently at every field site I visited. From urban lakes to rural wetlands, they showed up in all their blue, gray, or brown-colored glory.
Familiar Bluet damselflies in wheel perched on edge vegetation, Floyd County, Texas. Photo by Danielle Husband (26 July 2021).
At the start of 2023, here’s a toast to new species! But also, a reminder to always appreciate the familiar. Happy New Year!
Danielle Husband earned her masters in biology from Texas Tech in 2022. While in grad school, she served on the Worldwide Dragonfly Society’s social media team. In spring 2021, she was recipient of the DSA’s Odonate Research Support Grant. Today she is seeking employment through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to continue contributing to conservation. You can get in touch with her at dhusband94@gmail.com or on Instagram @danielle.husband.
