So, here are the facts:
- There are 5 different types of Emerald Damselfly but only 3 that I have found live in the United Kingdom.
- The Emerald Damselfly in general, though, is found all over the UK even just on the border of Northern and Southern Ireland.
- They are found around shallow waters with lots of dense reeds and vegetation. This one was found near a shallow stream on some dense vegetation.
- They can be seen throughout mid June to late September. We think this one is newly emerged as its wings are shiny and glossy.
- They are, on average, 38mm long, their abdomen being 29mm - 33mm of this. Each wing is between 19 and 23 mm long.
- This Damselfly (unlike most others) rests with its wings on a 45* angle. This is weird as Dragonflies normally rest like this not Damselflies.
- It has a 1 year life-cycle which, like all insects, it spends in different stages. Yesterday's post will explain about this but I will cover this one's.
- The adults use a mating wheel and then the Female lays the eggs on the water and sometimes vegetation. They hatch a few weeks later in Spring and it takes them a couple of minutes to hatch into a prolava.
- This has no limbs and cannot feed but it can jump and wriggle to move around. If it is not in water then it will find some and then it will moult into its next stage. They will keep moulting until the growth is complete (there is no set number of moults but it can take up to 2 years for some species) and will then become an adult.
Here are some links to some more information:
Hope you enjoyed,
Z.
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