Small red-eyed damselflies Pennington Flash

In 2016 I recorded the first red-eyed damselflies at the flash on the Leeds / Liverpool canal either side of the footbridge. Today I found literally hundreds of them in the same location and better still, in amongst them a few small red-eyed damselflies.   

Not easy to pick out without a decent view, but basically small red-eyed has more blue on the abdomen, specifically segments 2, 3 & 8. They're also a bit smaller, though I found that red-eyed varied a lot in size so size alone is not a perfect feature.

I counted around eight small red-eyed with an estimated 200 of their larger cousins.

Small red-eyed damselfly male. Notice the complete antehumeral stripes, compared to the very short stripes of red-eyed.

Small red-eyed has spread dramatically in recent years after first being recorded in the UK as recently as 1999 and I saw my first just a few weeks ago. It's now  spread well north of Pennington Flash, at least as far as Preston on the west coast.

Male and female small red-eyed damselflies in tandem.

Red-eyed damselfly male. Note the short anthumeral stripes, also the lack of blue on segments 2, 3 and 8.

Red-eyed damselfly male.

Red-eyed damselfly pair ovipositing in tandem. This is basically the male protecting the female from other males.

Female brown hawker ovipositing (egg laying).

Blue-tailed damselfly.