Beautiful demoiselle’s are, well, beautiful! Often confused for a dragonfly, these giants of the damselfly world are hard to miss with their metallic blue and green colours.
Top facts
Stats
Length: 4.5cm
When to see
May to August
About
The beautiful demoiselle may look like a dragonfly, but it is in fact a large damselfly. The males are metallic blue and the females green. They live on small, fast flowing rivers in the west of the UK. They can be seen flitting and fluttering over head as the male tries to attract a female with its impressive dance moves!
What to look for
Male Beautiful demoiselles have dark-coloured wings and metallic blue-green bodies; females have brown wings and green bodies. The Beautiful demoiselle is similar to the Banded Demoiselle, but the males of the latter species have distinctive dark patches in the middle of their wings.
Where to find
Found west of a line drawn from Liverpool to Folkestone, where it is locally abundant.