Aug 14, 2010
It's often called a "pond damselfly" or a "narrow-winged damselfly."
We spotted this brilliant blue damselfly on a Great Valley gum plant (Grindelia camporum) near the Sciences Laboratory Building at the University of California, Davis.
It's a male coenagrionid damselfly, said Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology and professor of entomology at UC Davis. She knows her insects: she has seven million specimens in the Bohart (plus a few live ones in the "petting zoo").
The damselfly sparkled like a blue diamond as it foraged on the gum plant.
An entomological treasure, an Odonato gem, a sliver of blue in a thicket of green.
Attached Images:
![BLUE DAMSELFLY (male coenagrionid damselfly) nectars from a gum plant (Grindelia camporum) at the University of California, Davis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) BLUE DAMSELFLY (male coenagrionid damselfly) nectars from a gum plant (Grindelia camporum) at the University of California, Davis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)](https://ucanr.edu/blogs/bugsquad/blogfiles/4655.jpg)
Coenagrionid Damselfly
![CLOSE-UP--A male coenarionid damselyfly peers over a gum plant leaf at the University of California, Davis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) CLOSE-UP--A male coenarionid damselyfly peers over a gum plant leaf at the University of California, Davis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)](https://ucanr.edu/blogs/bugsquad/blogfiles/4657.jpg)
Close-Up