Red-Blue Damselfly

Natural Shelter

Red-Blue Damselflies perch on rushes, sedges, shrubs, and trees planted around frog ponds. If you don’t have room for a pond, a dampland is a great alternative for attracting damselflies to the garden. Their young (called nymphs) require submerged plants within a pond to provide protection from potential predators.

Novel Shelter

Not required.

Providing natural sources of food

Red-Blue Damselflies capture their prey on the wing. Tall rushes, shrubs, and trees provide habitat for Red-Blue Damselflies to survey the garden for potential prey. Flowering plants within the garden (wattles, kennedia, gravillea, or hardenbergia) will attract other flying insects and provide Red-Blue Damselflies additional foraging habitat. Nymphs feed on aquatic insects.

Providing sources of water

Red-Blue Damselflies often breed in garden ponds with slow moving water and plenty of vegetation. The pond water should flow slowly to attract breeding damselflies. Larger ponds have a greater chance of supporting damselflies. Damselflies lay their eggs in ponds and the aquatic nymphs forage for food under the water. Damselflies emerge from the water and leave an exuvia (shed skin) on rushes, logs, and rocks.

Soft flowing fountains or waterfalls oxygenate ponds and help create suitable habitat for breeding dragonflies. Powerful water fountains can scare away some dragonflies and they are unlikely to use the pond to lay their eggs.