Wisp

Identification - Agriocnemis femina femina, Variable Wisp.

So many of these tiny damsels about at the moment, I am tripping over them with almost every step. There must have been a mass hatching or something. They would quite easily go unnoticed as they float between the grass stems in slow motion. It is only because I am constantly on snake-watch that I see them.

A curious species, which has caused a lot of identification problems for me in the past. The male and female are quite different colors, also they both change colors completely when they mature, making four completely different color patterns for the one species. This particular specimen is a mature male.

At less than an inch long, they look quite ordinary standing up, but once you get down and dirty, they are quite spectacular in their colors.

Dave