Beautiful Demoiselle Damselfly Calopteryx virgo

Beautiful Demoiselle male
Beautiful Demoiselle male
The Beautiful Demoiselle occurs over much of Europe (except the far north and Iberian Peninsula) and through to much of Asia. Thank you to Rachel Isherwood for the beautiful photos on this page. Above is the metallic male with his full blue-black wings.
Beautiful Demoiselle female
Beautiful Demoiselle female
Like the male, the female Beautiful Demoiselle damselfly is a shining metallic jewel but is light green with golden brown on her body and doesn't have the black infill in her gold and brown wings. The female Beautiful Demoiselle is similar to, and ranges overlap with, the Banded, but the Beautiful (which prefers slower moving water) has more gold on her body and more brown in her wings.