This little damselfly is called an Orange Bluet (Enallagma signatum). Yes, the name is confusing and seems to be a bit of an oxymoron. Most bluets have various patterns of blue and black on their bodies, but surprisingly there are also bluets that are patterned predominantly in red, orange, yellow, green or black. The male Orange Bluet adopted a seemingly confrontational pose and stared right at me as I prepared to photograph him last Thursday at Jackson Miles Abbott Wetland Refuge—maybe he felt the need to defend his territory.
I would have liked to have captured an eye-to-eye shot, but was afraid of scaring away the damselfly if I bent down closer to it, so took the shot from a downward angle. Although a substantial part of the Orange Bluet’s body is out of focus in this image, I think the shot worked out ok, owing largely to the fact that the damselfly’s eyes were in focus. The curve of the stalk on which it was perched was a nice bonus and added some visual interest to the shot.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
Nice find and wonderful photograph!
Thanks, Wally. I don’t see Orange Bluets very often, so I was thrilled when I spotted this one.
A fabulous shot, Mike! What exquisite detail, and I agree about the interest added by the curved stem. I just love the notion of a confrontational damselfly.😉
Thanks. I have seen birds get pretty territorial and chase off larger birds (red-wing blackbirds chasing hawks, for example), so I tried to imagine a damselfly adopting a similar strategy. 🙂
Haha!!😅
The range of colors found in the ode world continue to amaze me. Nice capture!
Odes seem to run the full spectrum of colors–I love finding ones that are unusual in color, like orange-colored and violet-colored damselflies.