Wednesday 9 May 2007

Banded Demoiselle (Calopteryx splendens)

OTHER NAMES: Banded Agrion
Latin Etymology: Calopteryx (?) splendens ("shining")
Adult male Banded Demoiselle (subspecies C. s. splendens) at Geddington, Northants - July 2010

Featured Subspecies: Calopteryx splendens splendens
Length: 48mm  /  Wingspan: 60-65mm  
UK Status: Not Evaluated / IUCN Red List: Least Concern

Banded Demoiselles are one of the more common damselflies - they can be found alongside water in much of the British Isles. In my experience they seem to prefer rivers to ponds. The photo is of a male and can be easily identified by the deep turqouise colour and the very prominant black marks on the wings. The female is a metallic green/gold colour. I've found them mostly around reeds at the egde of rivers where large numbers sometimes congregate.

Related Species:
Order:
Odonata
Family: Caleopterydae
Genus: Caleopteryx
SUBSPECIES: C. s. amasina, C. s. ancilla,C. s. balcanica, C. s. caprai, C. s. cartvelica, C. s. ciscaucasica, C. s. erevanensis, C.s. faivrei, C.s. jhanseni, C. s. mingrelica, C. s. njuja, C. s. splendens, C. s. tschaldirica, C. s. wasterstoni, C. s. xanthostoma

- Sighting Locations -
UNITED KINGDOM A common resident species which is seen in Summer
 - Seen in Geddington and several other sites

Further Notes:  BirdForum Opus, IUCN Red ListRSPB, Wikipedia, Xeno-canto

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