Blue Dasher dragonfly Pachydiplax longipennis. Insect. Photograph taken by the author. Copyright © 2025 Now I Wonder. All rights reserved.

Complete Guide To The Blue Dasher Dragonfly

ByChristine Species Guides

Blue Dasher Dragonfly

Blue Dasher Dragonfly Images

How To Identify Blue Dasher Dragonflies

  • Grow to 1.8 inches (45 mm) in total body length.
    • Hind wing length reaches approximately 1.7 inches (42mm).
    • Varies in size across different areas and time of year.
      • Spring individuals are usually the biggest (Dunkle 2000).
  • Males have:
    • Bright emerald green eyes.
    • White faces with metallic blue-black frons.
    • Black and yellow striped thoraxes.
    • Pruinose blue abdomens with dark S8-10 abdominal segments.
    • Wings often tinted amber.
  • Females and juvenile males have:
    • Red over gray eyes.
    • Black and yellow striped thoraxes.
    • Black abdomens with 4 yellow, lengthwise stripes.
      • Females have shorter abdomens than males and transparent wings without amber-colored wings (Abbott 2015).
  • Blue Dasher Dragonflies perch both low and high, often flying into the tree canopy, and droop their wings when at rest.

Blue Dasher Dragonfly Notes

  • Blue Dasher Dragonflies are one of the most common dragonflies in North Carolina.
    • Look for them anywhere with standing water, low vegetation, and sunlight, including ponds, marshes, ditches, retaining pools, and wooded areas.
    • They are especially common in low-lying wetland areas, and around flood control lakes.
    • Flight season in North Carolina lasts from March to October.
  • Blue Dasher Dragonflies are determined predators that consume up to 10% of their own body weights in prey every day (Abbott 2015).
    • However, prey tends to be small compared to that taken by other dragonfly species.
  • Males fight to establish and defend feeding territories.
    • Encroaching males try to drive resident males off their perches and away from the water by flying underneath them (Dunkle 2000).
    • Blue Dasher Dragonflies are so territorial they will challenge pruinose blue skimmer dragonflies of other species (Paulson 2011).
      • This is dangerous behavior as some dragonfly species hunt and eat their cousin dragonflies.
        • For example, Eastern Pondhawk Dragonflies (Erythemis simplicicollis) are large, blue, and live in the same habitats as the smaller Blue Dashers. Eastern Pondhawks also happen to be major predators of smaller dragonflies and happily make meals of Blue Dashers.
    • Despite the danger, Blue Dashers prioritize protecting their feeding territories because they hunt in relatively small areas surrounding the perches from which they watch for prey.
      • Blue Dashers perch on the tips of vertical twigs or stems, fly out to intercept flying insects, then return to the same perches to feed.
      • These dragonflies prefer small prey but they are strong and adept hunters.

Blue Dasher Dragonfly Classification

Phylum

Arthropoda

Class

Insecta

Order

Odonata

Family

Libellulidae (Skimmer Dragonflies)

Genus

Pachydiplax

Species

P. longipennis

Binomial Name

Pachydiplax longipennis

author avatar
Christine
Christine is the creator and author of NowIWonder.com, a website dedicated to the animals and plants that share our world, and the science that helps us understand them. Inspired by lifelong exploration and learning, Christine loves to share her knowledge with others who want to connect with wild faces and wild spaces.
See Full Bio

Similar Posts