David Element's Wildlife Web Page Dragonflies and Damselflies 7

David Element

Wildlife Photography and Digital Video Images

_____________________________________________________ Dragonflies and Damselflies 7 - Banded Demoiselles

BANDED DEMOISELLE Calopteryx splendens (m)

BANDED DEMOISELLE Calopteryx splendens (f) BANDED DEMOISELLE Calopteryx splendens (f)

BANDED DEMOISELLE Calopteryx splendens (f)

BANDED DEMOISELLE Calopteryx splendens (m)

BANDED DEMOISELLE Calopteryx splendens (m, f)

The photogenic Banded Demoiselle Calopteryx splendens is common along the banks of clean, slow flowing rivers in the southern half of Britain and throughout most of Ireland. This beautiful insect is sensitive to pollution, and it may therefore be useful as an indicator species. Males are a deep metallic blue (although they may appear green in flash photographs) and they have dark blue clouded areas on each wing which are used for signalling purposes during the courtship display. This activity may be seen in the first photograph, and it is a process that may involve numerous individuals of both sexes. Females are a bottle-green colour. Teneral (freshly emerged) damselflies are often much paler than their fully adult counterparts and a copper colour may develop in over-mature females. There is only one possible confusion species in Britain, the Beautiful Demoiselle Calopteryx virgo, an insect more normally associated with faster flowing rivers (although some overlapping does occur). However, there is geographical variation in the extent of the blue wing-clouding on the Continent, and there are also similar species to look out for including the Iberian endemic Yellow-tailed Demoiselle C. xanthostoma. The mature males of this latter species have blue clouding over virtually the entire wing area. Females of all Calopteryx species are similar, and it is perhaps easiest to identify them by association with the males.

David’s YouTube films illustrating the behaviour of Banded Demoiselles and other dragonflies may be accessed by using the following playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4AirIEc0NofX43b8X-UMfsrsUry8PzwD.