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)
BANDED DEMOISELLE Calopteryx splendens (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.
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