Beautiful Demoiselle (Calopteryx virgo)

Beautiful Demoiselle

As its name suggests this Demoiselle is a stunningly handsome damselfly. Its colour is unsurpassed in the Odonata world in my opinion.

The Beautiful variety is usually first on the wing of the two UK Demoiselle species, appearing from late April in recent mild springs right through to late August.

This is considered a species of streams and rivers; however it can also be seen on canals and even ponds and lakes if adjacent to flowing water.

The males are easily distinguishable from the striking Banded Demoiselle by their fully coloured wings. Their abdomens and thorax are a stunning metallic blue / green.

Early male specimens are some what paler with brown eyes and wings. However they soon darken up, both becoming near black in colour when fully mature.

The females are very much harder to tell apart. The Beautiful Demoiselle's wings are bronze in colour the body being green which turns bronze with age. The female Banded Demoiselle is of an overall greener appearance. Females are best identified in the presence of the male of the species, to avoid confusion.

Photographic Overview - The Beautiful Demoiselle

All of my images are taken in handheld mode without the use of any camera support and this overview is written with that in mind.

This is an obliging subject near flowing water but is less so on still waters, why I don't know. On the River Kennet they are very approachable; however on the Basingstoke Canal you're lucky to get within a few metres before they fly off. Where they are approachable the subject may initially take flight but will usually settle again close by. They will soon become used to your presence, making some really close up shots possible.

There are no real compositional problems and once within range there is a very large focusing area to target, owing to the dark coloured wings. Take your time though and make sure everything is pin sharp, its easy to forget the tail segments.

These images were obtained by stealth and patience alone, no other non photographic techniques were used. I hope you have enjoyed browsing and that you'll return again soon.