Light-eyed Ebony Jewelwing

This is an unusual Ebony Jewelwing. I usually see them with black eyes, not these orange/tan ones. Though I hadn't noticed them before, these eyes aren't without precedent. Apparently eyes of this color indicate an immature Ebony Jewelwing; as they age it'll look more like 1 of these.

What's trickier is trying to figure out if this is a male or a female:

  • I think I see a sheen that's more prominent with males, but females can also have some sheen.
  • The wings should be darker in a male, though they should also have a small-but-noticeable white spot in a female. My impression is that there should be some sign of that white spot if this was a female.
  • Male damselflies have "claspers" at the end of their abdomens used during breeding. If I had to guess, I'd say that I see claspers on this individual, but the picture doesn't provide a good look at the (admittedly small) end of the abdomen.
MS Copilot and Google Gemini seem to suggest that the absence of the white wing spot (or a lighter or transparent spot where the white would eventually develop on a female) implies this is probably a male.

July 3, 2023 at Washington Valley Park
Photo 301259359, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)


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