David
Element
Wildlife
Photography
and Digital
Video Images
_
Dragonflies and Damselflies 7 - Banded Demoiselles 1
BANDED DEMOISELLE Calopteryx
splendens (m)
BANDED DEMOISELLE Calopteryx
splendens (m)
BANDED DEMOISELLE Calopteryx
splendens (f)
- The photogenic Banded
Demoiselle 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 considered
to 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 (Dragonflies and
Damselflies 12, 13), an insect more normally
associated with faster flowing rivers (although some
overlap does occur). The mature males of this latter
species have blue clouding over virtually the entire wing
area. Female Banded and Beautiful Demoiselles are
extremely similar and it is perhaps easiest to identify
them by association with the males. These new digital
photographs are a distinct improvement over earlier
transparency images.
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and Damselflies 1
-> Dragonflies
and Damselflies 2
-> Dragonflies
and Damselflies 3
-> Dragonflies
and Damselflies 4
-> Dragonflies
and Damselflies 5
-> Dragonflies
and Damselflies 6
-> Dragonflies
and Damselflies 8
-> Dragonflies
and Damselflies 9
-> Dragonflies
and Damselflies 10
-> Dragonflies and Damselflies 11
-> Dragonflies and Damselflies 12
-> Dragonflies and Damselflies 13
-> Dragonflies
and Damselflies 14
-> Dragonflies
and Damselflies 15
-> Dragonflies and Damselflies 16
-> Dragonflies
and Damselflies 17
-> Dragonflies
and Damselflies 18
-> Dragonflies and Damselflies 19
-> Dragonflies and Damselflies 20
-> Dragonflies and Damselflies 21
-> Dragonflies
and Damselflies 22
-> Dragonflies
and Damselflies 23
-> Dragonflies
and Damselflies 24
-> Dragonflies
and Damselflies 25
-> Dragonflies and Damselflies 26
-> Dragonflies and Damselflies 27
-> Dragonflies
and Damselflies 28
-> Index,
Common Names
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Scientific Names
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© David
Element.