NC Odonate Website

Related Species in COENAGRIONIDAE:

Number of records for 2025 = 4

PDF has more details,
e.g., flight data, high counts, and earliest/latest dates can be seen.
[View PDF]

Burgundy Bluet (Enallagma dubium) by Mark Shields

Compare with: Cherry Bluet
Identification Tips: Move the cursor over the image, or tap the image if using a mobile device, to reveal ID Tips.
Note: these identification tips apply specifically to mature males; features may differ in immature males and in females.

[Google images] [Global Biodiversity Information Facility] iNaturalist

Map

Click on county for list of all its records for Burgundy Bluet

Flight Charts

Distribution

Scattered over nearly all of the Coastal Plain, and sparingly into the extreme eastern Piedmont. Absent from the western half of the state, and possibly absent in northern coastal areas.

Abundance

Generally uncommon to locally fairly common in the southern half of the Coastal Plain, and very rare and of spotty occurrence in the northern half. Rare in the narrow Piedmont portion of the range. Through 2016, the highest single-day count was only six individuals, but there have been several counts of double-digit individuals, including an excellent one-day tally of 50, in 2017.

Flight

The Coastal Plain flight occurs from very late April or early May to very early October, whereas that in the adjacent Piedmont is from mid-May to late August.

Habitat

Generally in highly vegetated ponds or small lakes, especially with floating vegetation such as lily pads. Can occur on very slow-moving creeks if there is some floating or emergent vegetation in full sun.

See also Habitat Account for Coastal Plain Herbaceous Ponds and Sloughs

Behavior

Often perches on lilypads or on other exposed snags, well out from shore. Because of the dark colors on the thorax, an observer may need binoculars or a telephoto lens to clearly see the dark red/violet thorax stripes.

Comments

The male has a deep red and black thorax, fairly similar to (but darker red than) that of the Cherry Bluet. Through 2016 we had very few recent records, but a stronger interest in studying odonates, especially damselflies, has taken place in at least the southern Coastal Plain starting in 2017. However, few people are searching for damselflies currently in the northern Coastal Plain, though it seems likely that the species has always been relatively rare in this part of the range.

Records have been greatly increasing in the last five years, though this might simply refer to more biologists visiting the Sandhills and other southern Coastal Plain areas with ponds. Usually where this species is present, many other damselflies can often be found, including the similar Cherry Bluet.

State Rank

S4 [S3S4]

State Status

Global Rank

Federal Status

Synonym

Other Name

Species account update: LeGrand on 2023-01-18 13:25:27

The Dragonflies and Damselflies of North Carolina
Home Page	Search	Odonate Resources	Maps	Login	NC Biodiversity Project	Comments

Photo Gallery for Burgundy Bluet 15 photos are shown.		Other NC Galleries: Jeff Pippen Will Cook Ted Wilcox
	Photo 1 by: Rob Gilson, Carolina Butterfly Society Comment: Moore; C, 2024-06-01, - 2 at Weymouth Woods, 1 at Sandhills Community College lake; photo from latter site, with Burgundy Bluet on left and Skimming Bluet along stem, photo by Lori Arent		Photo 2 by: Matt Spangler Comment: Richmond; C, 2023-05-07, McKinney Lake State Fish Hatchery
	Photo 3 by: Lori Arent, Harry LeGrand Comment: Bladen, 2023-04-21, several locations in Bladen County - pair in copulation; Suggs Mill Pond; photo by Lori Arent		Photo 4 by: L. Arent Comment: Wake, 2022-08-22, Umstead State Park - Males at small pond
	Photo 5 by: Mike Turner Comment: Hoke, 2022-06-19, Nicholson Creek Game Land - mostly ad.males		Photo 6 by: Harry LeGrand, Lori Arent Comment: Richmond; C, 2021-06-14, - Indian Camp Lake; Burgundy Bluet on left, Skimming Bluet on right.
	Photo 7 by: Conrad Wernett Comment: Lee, 2017-07-29 - Watson Lake, Broadway		Photo 8 by: Mark Shields Comment: Bladen, 2017-05-26, Horseshoe Lake, Suggs Mill Pond Game Lands - many tandem/ovipositing pairs
	Photo 9 by: Mark Shields Comment: Pender, 2017-05-19, Shelter Creek, lower 2 km		Photo 10 by: Mark Shields, Hunter Phillips Comment: Scotland, 2017-05-15, Scotland Lake and in-flowing creek, Sandhills Game Land
	Photo 11 by: Kyle Kittelberger Comment: Scotland, 2017-05-08, Sandhill Game Land; Scotland Lake		Photo 12 by: Mike Turner, Conrad Wernett, Alyssa Wernett Comment: Scotland, 2017-05-07, Sandhill Game Land; creek at SR 1328 (Hoffman Rd)
	Photo 13 by: Mark Shields Comment: Pender, 2016-09-11, Holly Shelter Game Land, waterfowl impoundment		Photo 14 by: Mark Shields Comment: Jones, 2016-08-04, Brock Mill Pond, Trenton
	Photo 15 by: E. Corey and K. Bischof Comment: Onslow, 2007-08-11