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Hagen's bluet
Hagen's bluet (Enallagma hageni) [male]
Photo © Paul Dacko
Features and Behaviors
FEATURES
Hagen’s bluet is small and common to the northern regions of the United States up into Canada. The spots behind the eyes are large and shaped like a dumbbell. Male eyes are black-capped blue with a slight dark stripe below. Thorax markings in both males and females are typical of bluets, with wide middle and side stripes. The male abdomen is pale blue with a black spot at the end of the second segment and an increasingly black ring around the end of each of the third through seventh segments. Females have many appearances, typically tan, green, or blue with brown-capped tan or green eyes. The female abdomen is entirely black with torpedo-shaped markings on the middle segments.
BEHAVIOR
Males can be found in marsh vegetation or out over the open water, resting on stems and mats of algae. Pairs mate near the water during the afternoon for an average duration of 22 minutes. Females lay eggs by crawling through floating or submerged, live and dead plant stems for around 30 minutes with males hovering above. Competing males typically grab females when they resurface, leading to additional mating and egg-laying. They can be found on emerging vegetation among open marshes, lakes, and bog ponds. They are most commonly found at large northern lakes. They live in the northern tenth of the state of Illinois. They range from Iowa up to southern Canada.
Illinois Range
Taxonomy
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Odonata
Family: Coenagrionidae
Illinois Status: common, native
