United States and Canada
The face of the male is blue and the top of the head is black with pale postocular spots and a widely separated occipital bar. The middorsal thoracic carina is pale blue and thinly visible in the center of the dark middorsal stripe that is half the width of the mesepisterna. The antehumeral stripe is pale blue and nearly half the width of the middorsal stripe. The black humeral stripe is as wide as the antehumeral stripe at its widest. The rest of the pterothorax is blue becoming paler below. The legs are blue or tan with black stripes on the femora and tib iae and the tarsi are pale. The abdomen is bright blue dorsally. The basal half of segment 1 is dark dorsally. Segment 2 has a black subapical spot or stripe extending B> the length of the segment dorsally. Segments 3-6 each have a hastate dark stripe dorsally, extending at least half the length of the segment. Segment 7 is black dorsally with a pale apical ring. Segments 8-9 are pale dorsally and segment 10 is black dorsally. The cerci are half the length of segment 10 with a pale tubercle visible laterally. The paraprocts are 2/3 the length of the cerci. The female is pale blue or tan with the head and thorax similar to the male. The posterior borders of the mesostigmal plates are sinuate and indistinct. The middle lobe of the pronotum lacks distinct pits. Abdominal segment 1 is similar to the male, but with a larger dark spot dorsally. Segment 2 has a full-length black stripe dorsally narrowing from the base. Segments 3-7 each have a hastate stripe. Segment 8-10 each have a full-len gth black stripe dorsally
Size: Total length: 26-37 mm; abdomen: 19-28 mm; hindwing: 15-22 mm.
Similar Species (south-central US): Familiar Bluet (E. civile) is very similar, but generally paler and Tule Bluet often appears greenish compared to Familiar Bluet. Males can be reliably separated by careful in-hand examination of the cerci. In Familiar Bluet the tubercle does not extend beyond the cercus itself and it does in Tule Bluet. Northern Bluet (E. cyathigerum) has black laterally on segment 2. The black rings on the middle abdominal segments in male Boreal Bluets (E. boreale) are truncate, not pointed. Generally, no more than the apical forth of segment 2 is black in Alakli Bluet (E. clausum) and Arroyo Bluet (E. praevarum) is thinner and darker overall. Familiar Bluet is the only other bluet in our region that has a tubercle on the male cerci.
Habitat: Slow reaches of rivers and occasionally lakes and ponds.
Natural History: Tule Bluet is only known from the extreme northwestern portions of the region. This species is known to tolerate waters with high salinity, though it is not found along the coast.
Distribution: Transcontinental from southern Canada south to Baja in the west.
Source: Abbott, J.C. 2006-2010. OdonataCentral: An online resource for the distribution and identification of Odonata. Available at OdonataCentral.
Edited by Drew Weber (9/24/2015).
