Ischnura aurora (Aurora Bluetail/Gossamer Damselfly)

Ischnura aurora has a very wide distribution, occurring from Pakistan and India to southern China and Taiwan, to the Philippines, Australia and many Pacific Islands including New Zealand.

The male really is a stunningly beautiful creature. They are quite small being just 25mm in length, so a macro lens would be handy, if they’d stayed put long enough. As it was, they didn’t and I didn’t have one anyway.

We first found them at two of our sites in Victoria, Australia, where it is given the vernacular name Aurora Bluetail: the Winton Wetlands and the dam at Stanley, where we were staying. We also found it early during our tour around New Zealand on North Island where the vernacular name used is Gossamer Damselfly.