Agrion jouvencelle (Coenagrion puella)
• English name: Azure Bluet
• German name: Hufeisen-Azurjungfer
• French name: Agrion jouvencelle
• Dutch name: Azuurwaterjuffer
• Swedish name: Ljus lyrflickslända
• Norwegian name: Sørlig blåvannymfe
• Finnish name: Eteläntytönkorento
• Danish name: Hestesko-vandnymfe
• Italian name: Azzurrina comune
• Czech name: šidélko páskované
• Slovenian name: Travniški škratec
• Bulgarian name: Обикновено пъстриче
Agrion jouvencelle
(Coenagrion puella)
Map data based on J.-P. Boudot & V. J. Kalkman (eds.),
Atlas of the European Dragonflies and Damselflies
| General | • a small species, very common throughout Europe except northern Scandinavia and Crete; similar to C. pulchellum | |
| Classification | • suborder: Zygoptera (damselflies); family: Coenagrionidae | |
| Conservation status | • IUCN Red List Europe: Least Concern | |
| Scientific name | • Coenagrion puella (Linnaeus, 1758) | |
| Name genus | • Coenagrion: from Grk. κοινός = common, widespread +; ἄγριος = wild, living in the fields | |
| Name species | • puella: from Lat. puella = girl, maiden | |
| Distribution | • click or tap the Map button above | |
| Habitat | • any well-vegetated pond or lake | |
| Dimensions | • typical body length: 33-35 mm; hindwing: 15-24 mm | |
| Both sexes | Wings | • the pterostigma is uniformly dark grey to black |
| Male | Thorax | ➤ the antehumeral stripe is thin but uninterrupted |
| Abdomen | • the abdomen has a U-shaped mark on S2 | |
| ➤ the amount of black dorsally on S3, S4 and S5 is often a constant 20% or so of the total lengths of S3, S4 and S5 | ||
| • in side view the lower part of S3-S5 bears long black lines | ||
| Female | Thorax | ➤ the hind margin of the pronotum has two weak incisions, creating three wavy lobes; see also the LineDrawing below |
| Abdomen | • the top of the abdomen is mostly black with some coloured spots at the segment borders | |
| Photographs | • most of our photos below were made in Tuscany |
LineDrawing: the male's head, thorax and abdomen in lateral view, and the female's pronotum in dorsal and lateral view.
Coenagrion puella; thorax
Note: By contrast, the antehumeral stripe in C. pulchellum is typically interrupted or heavily constricted.
Coenagrion puella (top) and C. pulchellum (bottom); abdomen, male
Note the increasing amount of black on S3, S4 and S5 in C. pulchellum.
Twelve Coenagrion species; pronotum, female
Note: In C. puella the hind margin of the pronotum has two weak incisions, creating three wavy lobes.
Azure Bluet (Coenagrion puella)
Male head, thorax and abdomen in lateral view
Drawing by Ruth Ilka Nüß
© 2013 Lehmann & Nüß and DragonflyPix.com
Azure Bluet (Coenagrion puella)
Female pronotum in dorsal and lateral view
Drawing by Ruth Ilka Nüß
© 2017 Lehmann & Nüß and DragonflyPix.com
