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Pachydiplax longipennis
Teal-green eyes and periwinkle blue body. Some variety of skimmer.
Shaded pond area in a beer garden on a warm day
Pruinescence gives the body a frosted appearance covering the thoracic stripes. "Males display the pruinescence on the back of the abdomen to other males as a territorial threat" (Wikipedia).
Spotted on Aug 12, 2012
Submitted on Nov 24, 2013
4 Comments
I changed it to Blue Dasher and I agree. It seemed to have the body of a pondhawk and face of a dasher, but wikipedia says it has pruinosity so the coloration looks frosted and the thoracic stripes are hidden. It reflects ultraviolet and is most common with male skimmers. I guess I learned something new today. Thanks for identifying it (:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pruinescenc...
Pondhawks -- eastern or western, male or female -- have green faces; Blue Dashers have white faces. I say Blue Dasher, since your specimen has a white face.
This page says they are found throughout the continental US as well as in the Pacific Northwest so I suppose Blue Dashers can be found in California. http://www.geog.ubc.ca/biodiversity/fact...
But I believe what I found is a western pond hawk since it does not have thoracic stripes and I'm sure it's not an eastern pondhawk based on the differences in abdomen and appendage shape. http://www.azdragonfly.net/compare/299
Looks like a male Blue Dasher dragonfly (Pachydiplax longipennis), a species that is common in the eastern USA. Are there Blue Dashers on the West Coast? http://bugguide.net/node/view/598