Large Red Damselfly (Pyrrhosoma nymphula)

Size: - Approximate Length 36mm - Wing Span 40mm (male): 48mm (female).

Male: - Eyes are red with a black band passing though them. There are two red stripes on the black upper surface of the thorax. The abdomen is deep red with fine black stripes at the segment boundaries.

The upper surface of segments 7 to 9 sport three black bands separated by two broad areas of red. A key feature to remember is that the legs are black.

This narrative was kindly written and supplied by Mr Ken Crick

All Photography by Chris Brooks

Click on the thumb-nails to enlarge the images.

Female: - Obviously larger than the male, the abdomen being up to 3 times as thick. The eyes and legs match those of the male. There are 3 female colour forms. The 2 types of red female carry significantly more black on the abdomen than the male. The black segments of the abdomen are not separated by wide red bands and the abdominal segment joints are delineated with fine lines in both black and yellow. The upper surface of the thorax closely resembles that of the male except in the all black form where the antehumeral stripes are yellow. 

Status: - Common and very wide spread throughout Britain & Ireland.

Habitat: - Early colonizer of newly created garden ponds, frequents well vegetated ponds, ditches, canals, and the stiller waters of rivers.

Flight period: - Late April to the end of August.

General: - One of only two red species of damselfly in the UK and Ireland’s only red species. Males defend

territory from conveniently sited tall vegetation. Copulation takes about 15 minutes and is followed by egg-laying in tandem. Eggs are inserted into the underside of floating and submerged plant stems and leaves. The highly synchronised emergence at the beginning of the Odonata flight season means that this is probably the first damselfly encountered by most observers. A second unsynchronised emergence is sometimes apparent in mid summer.