These lovely photos sent in by Jim Almond show us an immature female Blue-tailed Damselfly form violacea. Strictly speaking this is really an immature immature form violacea as even the purple coloration hasn’t fully developed (left & below left) so Jim has included a slightly more advanced example from last year (below right).
The remaining 4 photos below are the first Red-eyed Damselflies seen this year. Interestingly Jim saw all females and no males at this stage..a situation mirrored by Variable Damselflies he observed this year with predominantly females emerging first. The photos illustrate the antehumeral exclamation marks and otherwise dark dorsal coloration of the female. The bladelike ovipositor is also beautifully illustrated which the female will use to slice into plant stems (often submerged) in order to lay eggs.
