A splendid jewelwing

30 Tuesday Jun 2026

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Banded Demoiselle, British demoiselles, British dragonfly, Calopteryx splendens, dragonfly, jewelwings, male Banded demoiselle

All of the species in the Calopteryx genus are known as jewelwings but today’s focus is on the Banded demoiselle (Calopteryx splendens, from the Greek καλóς [kalos] which means ‘beautiful’, and πτɛ´ρυξ [pteryx], meaning ‘wing’, and splendens, from the Latin splendere, meaning ‘shining’ or ‘glittering’ – an appropriate set of names for this splendidly beautiful glittering-winged dragonfly).

Only the males have the wing bands; the females have wings that range from pale green to dark brown depending on location, which means they can sometimes be confused with female Beautiful demoiselles; fortunately, in Britain, they tend towards the pale green end of that colour range. I’ve only seen males this year, so haven’t yet been confused, which makes a pleasant change, but I have been dazzled by their beauty.

Demoiselles

24 Saturday May 2025

Posted by sconzani in insects

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Banded Demoiselle, Beautiful Demoiselle, British dragonflies, Calopteryx splendens, Calopteryx Virgo, demoiselles, Odonata

Thursday was a good day for demoiselles. As I strolled along the old Glamorgan canal at Forest Farm Nature Reserve, I was almost constantly entertained by both the Beautiful (Calopteryx virgo) and the Banded demoiselles (Calopteryx splendens), though there were definitely many more of the former than the latter.

~ male Beautiful demoiselle

While the females mostly perched quietly on leaves somewhat removed from the males – the only way to escape their attention, the males seldom kept still. They flashed their wings, displaying their metallic blue hues to impress any female that did venture past, and competed with other males for the best territories, those with sun, and shelter, and perches, and suitable places for egg-laying. What was serious breeding business for these stunning creatures was enchanting and magical for me.

~ male Banded demoiselle

157/365 A Banded demoiselle

06 Thursday Jun 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, insects, nature

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#365DaysWild, Banded Demoiselle, British damselflies, damselflies, demoiselle damselflies

190606 Banded demoiselle (2)

I spotted my first Banded demoiselle of the season today. Though they’re usually found near water – around ponds and lakes, alongside slow-flowing streams and languid rivers, this female was perched on some garden shrubs in front of a tower block of flats at Cardiff Bay. The wind was blowing the greenery around so my shots are not very sharp but it was a real delight to see one of these little treasures again.

190606 Banded demoiselle (1)

Banded demoiselles

01 Wednesday Aug 2018

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature, walks

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Arlington Reservoir, Banded Demoiselle, British damselflies, Cuckmere River, damselflies

One of the many highlights of my recent walk around Arlington Reservoir in East Sussex with my friend Jill was being able to get quite close to several pairs of Banded demoiselle damselflies (while simultaneously heeding Jill’s warning that if I fell in the stream – actually the Cuckmere River – she wasn’t going to rescue me – ha!).

180801 Arlington stream

And actually this was off the main Arlington trail, as there was an old church that looked interesting not far away and we’d headed off down a public footpath towards it.

180801 Banded demoiselle (1)

Although I’ve seen a number of Beautiful demoiselles at my local nature reserves in Wales, I haven’t seen any Banded … and they are such gorgeous creatures, especially the bright blue males when they’re flying. Makes me believe in fairies!

180801 Banded demoiselle (2)

If you’re ever in the area, Arlington is a lovely place for a walk, with colourful and insect-rich wildflower meadows and plenty of birdlife, just the right amount of exercise in its circular walk and a cafe with icecreams at the end.

National Dragonfly Week: Banded Demoiselle

26 Tuesday Jul 2016

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature

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Banded Demoiselle, Calopteryx splendens, damselflies, damselfy, National Dragonfly Week 2016

On the first day of National Dragonfly Week I showed you the Beautiful Demoiselle; today we have the other damselfly in the Demoiselle species, the only damselflies in Britain to have coloured wings. This is the Banded Demoiselle (Calopteryx splendens), and you can see immediately from the bands of colour on the males’ wings how it got its common name.

160726 Banded demoiselle male (1)

These damselflies are simply gorgeous, the male (above) a stunning metallic blue and the female (below) an equally spectacular metallic green. Common in Wales and all but the northernmost counties of England, they can be seen flying around lakes and ponds and along canals and slow-moving rivers and streams, from late April to early September. Banded Demoiselles are quite sensitive to pollution so their presence is a good sign that the local water source is clean.

I wonder if this female knew about the spider, or the spider knew about the damselfly?

The male is territorial and also a bit of a show-off. He performs a delightful display of aeronautic dance moves in his attempts to impress the females – the damselfly version of Patrick Swayze in Dirty Dancing!