Male Baja Bluet (Enallagma eiseni) Santee Lakes, CA June 6, 2020 Copyright Crystal Spaulding.
Baja Bluet (Enallagma eiseni)
March’s DSA species of the month is the Baja Bluet damselfly (Enallagma eiseni). Part of the large family of Pond Damsels, Coenagriondae, Dennis Paulson in Dragonflies and Damselflies of the West notes it is 27-34 mm long (about an inch to just under and inch and a half), and prefers pools, in shallow rocky and sandy streams in arid county. Although it was previously thought to be restricted to Baja California, read on to follow dragonfly chaser Jeffrey Spaulding and his family as they discover the Baja Bluet in an unexpected place.
A Surprising Year With A Surprising Find
In 2020, my wife Crystal and our daughters Laraina and Lakota—all amazing nature photographers— and I were ready to look for as many odes, butterflies, herps, and mammals in San Diego County, California, as we could find. We started out having great success with all but odes. And then, a funny thing happened in 2020…
(L to R) Laraina Spaulding, Crystal Spaulding, Lakota Spaulding, Jeffrey Spaulding, San Diego, CA May 21, 2023. Photo copyright Jeffrey Spaulding.
The global lockdown went into effect and we were shut down for about a month. Once the parks opened back up in early May, we were ticking off new species every weekend and having a great time.
Doing a little iNaturalist research, I planned for us to go to Santee Lakes just outside San Diego on May 31st for some target odes. I was looking for Mexican Amberwing (Perithemis intensa), Rambur’s Forktail (Ischnura ramburii), and hopefully Red-tailed Pennant (Brachymesia furcata). I was going to try and field identify bluets too as my last attempts were… unsuccessful. According to my Odonata Central checklist, there were six species of bluet (Enallagma) recorded in San Diego County. I pretty much ignored the Baja Bluet since there was only one record and, really, what are the chances?
The Baja Bluet was thought to be an endemic of the southern Baja peninsula until over 20 were seen and one was collected by Eva and Wulf Kappes at Quitobaquito Springs on the Arizona-Sonoran border in 1992. A photo uploaded by Jamie Simmons to iNaturalist in 2022 shows a Baja Bluet photographed in 1983 at that same location nine years prior! Further records from Arizona, per Odonata Central and iNaturalist and outside of Quitobaquito Springs, come from one photographed in Pinal County in 2018, and several photographed at Canoa Ranch in Pima County in 2020 and 2023.
In 2006, Tim Manolis, Marshall Iliff, and Richard Erickson found Baja Bluets in Northern Baja California roughly 70 miles south of the California border where they were previously unknown. In 2007, Richard Bledsoe found and photographed Baja Bluet, a first for California, in San Diego County near the US/Mexican border. This record was publicly contested, leaving Baja Bluet “questionable” for California.
We arrived at Santee Lakes in the late morning, and I walked 10 steps to the edge of one of the lakes and had Rambur’s Forktail and Mexican Amberwing immediately. A Red-tailed Pennant was not too far behind and we even managed a surprise Gray Sanddragon (Progomphus borealis). I think I looked at two bluets before I gave up on identifying them in the field, again, and just started pointing them out for the girls to photograph for me to identify later.
Male Baja Bluet (Enallagma eisen), July 4, 2020 Santee Lakes, CA Copyright Laraina Spaulding.
Upon arriving home, I started with my daughter Lakota’s memory card first. We had mostly Tule (Enallagma carunculatum) and Familiar Bluets Enallagma civile) with a few I thought looked good for Arroyo (Enallagma praevarum). Then, I came upon one photo that stumped me. It was definitely a male bluet. I remember thinking it was odd when I saw it at the lake, but I wasn’t in “identify now” mode. I went back and forth with Dennis Paulson’s Dragonflies and Damselflies of the West and the photo trying to make out what it was, such an odd pattern… wait a minute… .
I have no qualms about saying that the male Baja Bluet (Enallagma eiseni) is the most distinctly patterned Enallagma out there. Most male Bluets are blue but that is not always the case. Bluets can also be Golden (E. sulcatum) or Scarlet (E. pictum) or even Orange (E. signatum). The patterning on the mid-abdominal segments can range from all black to simple, distal black rings. Some have a black marking on top of the middle segments, from the distal ring, that point toward the head.
Baja Bluets have a pointed arrowhead or spear shape on the top of each of the mid-abdominal segments that point back toward the tail end, not the head. In my observations, the male Baja Bluets also appear a shade of blue lighter than the Familiar and Tule Bluets in direct comparison. A blue stripe through the median black line on the top of the thorax, not unlike a Double-striped Bluet (E. basidens), might also give the appearance of being lighter in color.
Male Baja Bluet (Enallagma eiseni) May 31 2020, Santee Lakes, CA (Copyright Lakota Spaulding).
The pattern of the Baja Bluet is so distinct, I would almost forget to mention the long, rectangular, and distinct cerci that the males possess. I have not seen any females in the field, but a search of photographs on iNaturalist showed females that appeared either a bronzish green color or bluish andromorphs. Expert Dennis Paulson describes the females as being distinct with a pale S8 that is black dorsally.
Once I realized that I was looking at a photo of a Baja Bluet, I called my wife Crystal into the room. I showed her the photo, I showed her the guide, and I asked to help me figure out what I was missing. She couldn’t find anything so I put the photo up on iNaturalist and tagged expert Kathy Biggs. I posted on CalOdes as well. Expert Jim Johnson quickly answered both with confirmation. Looking through the other photos we were able to find two different individuals. Other experts like Doug Karalun arrived the next day and reported seven individuals. Local lister and photographer Doug Aguillard, the late iNaturalist legend BJ Stacey (working under the name “finatic”), and others were able to see them as well.
Jeffrey Spaulding, Cabrillo National Monument San Diego, CA December 16, 2023. Photo copyright Crystal Spaulding.
Then on the Fourth of July, we found another Baja Bluet at Kit Carson Park in Escondido, just under 16 miles north/northwest of Santee Lakes. We followed up the next year looking to see if a population had been established but found no Baja Bluets at either of these or any other location.
As for 2020, we finished the year with 41 species of Odonata out of 62 recorded in San Diego County. What a year!
Jeff Spaulding became a life-long birder at age 12 when he discovered birds were far more interesting to watch than dinosaurs. He credits iNaturalist for opening up a larger world of discovery and listing. He also credits a couple of "spark Odes" for starting him down the rabbit hole of... field odonatology?
Jeff has been in emergency medical services for 24 years. He currently works as a paramedic in San Diego where he lives with his wife Crystal and their daughters Laraina and Lakota. When not at work, school, or shuttling between activities, the Spauldings can be found wandering somewhere around San Diego County, planning entire family vacations around iNaturalist, or cheering on San Diego sports teams.
