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Male Beautiful Demoiselle

Male Beautiful Demoiselle ©Guy Edwardes/2020VISION

Beautiful Demoiselle female

Female Beautiful Demoiselle ©Chris Lawrence

Beautiful demoiselle

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Scientific name: Calopteryx virgo
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.

Habitats

Did you know?

Male Beautiful demoiselles rest on bankside vegetation awaiting passing females. They use their fluttering flight as a courtship display.