Day 50 - Brilliant Banded Demoiselles

Hi all today's Day 50! And for the occasion I thought I'd do a piece of wildlife that is not only beautiful but I haven't done its species before. That species is the demoiselle. If you don't know what they are the you're not alone as I didn't before I did this article, but from the evidence I've collected it's basically a damselfly. It's a damselfly it's almost in a category of its own called, as I mentioned before, the Demoiselles. Today I'll look at the Banded Demoiselle and will certainly be keeping an eye out for the other type the Beautiful Demoiselle.

Anyway enough talking here are the facts:

Banded Demoiselle (Calopteryx splendens)

• They are 45mm long with a wingspan of 55-70mm.

• They live for about 2 years. Most of this is spent as a larvae or an the second stage of a dragonflies life:

          (Egg ---> Larvae ---> Dragonfly.)

• They are found mostly in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and are found in slow flowing rivers, streams and canals.

• The Banded Demoiselle is the largest of our native damselflies.

• The males have a dark-green body with dark blue patches on their wings. Females do not have the patches on the wings but the wings have a pale green tinge all over. You can tell from this information that the Demoiselle above is a male.

• In the air Banded Demoiselles look like butterflies with their gentle, fluttery-type flying. They are very sensitive to pollution and so when you see them it's normally a sign of good water quality.

• Their larvae are aquatic meaning the adult damsels lay their eggs in water.

• Males compete on the wing for breeding territories and the winner will court any visiting females by doing a special display for her.

Here are some links to some more information:

BBC Nature - Banded Demoiselles

British Dragonflies - Banded Demoiselles

UK Safari - Banded Demoiselles

Hope you enjoyed,

Z.