Talk:Enallagma cyathigerum

File:Enallagma cyathigerum 1(loz).jpg to appear as POTD soon

Hello! This is a note to let the editors of this article know that File:Enallagma cyathigerum 1(loz).jpg will be appearing as picture of the day on February 28, 2012. You can view and edit the POTD blurb at Template:POTD/2012-02-28. If this article needs any attention or maintenance, it would be preferable if that could be done before its appearance on the Main Page so Wikipedia doesn't look bad. :) Thanks! —howcheng {chat} 22:33, 25 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Picture of the day

Two Common Blue Damselflies (Enallagma cyathigerum) mating. The male clasps the female by her neck while she bends her body around to his reproductive organs; this is called a mating wheel. This damselfly species is found throughout Europe. The male is similar in appearance to the Azure Damselfly.Photo: L. B. Tettenborn

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File:Common_blue_damselflies_(Enallagma_cyathigerum)_mating_composite.jpg scheduled for POTD

Hello! This is to let editors know that the featured picture File:Common_blue_damselflies_(Enallagma_cyathigerum)_mating_composite.jpg, which is used in this article, has been selected as the English Wikipedia's picture of the day (POTD) for July 4, 2020. A preview of the POTD is displayed below and can be edited at Template:POTD/2020-07-04. Any improvements or maintenance to this article should be made before its scheduled appearance on the Main Page. If you have any concerns, please place a message at Wikipedia talk:Picture of the day. Thank you! Cwmhiraeth (talk) 11:21, 21 June 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Enallagma cyathigerum, the common blue damselfly, is a species of damselfly in the family Coenagrionidae. The species is widely distributed across the Palearctic realm and can reach a length of 32 to 35 mm (1.3 to 1.4 in).

This composite photograph, taken in Oxfordshire, England, shows a pair of E. cyathigerum damselflies preparing to mate. Having transferred a bundle of sperm known as a spermatophore to secondary genitalia on the third segment of his abdomen, the blue-coloured male grasps the dull-coloured female by the head with the claspers at the tip of his abdomen. The female then curls her abdomen downwards and forwards under his body to pick up the sperm from the male's secondary genitalia. The distinctive posture that the pair adopt when transferring sperm is often called the "heart" or "wheel".

Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp

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