Return to moorhen home page
Return to section index
Image-of-the-Day by Subject
Dragonflies & Damselflies Page 8
Image Taken on 08 Jun 2024
at 16:29 Image of day on 09 Jul 2024
A male Beautiful Demoiselle Damselfly flicking his wings.
Some do this and some don't - we haven't worked out any pattern.
Demoiselles are, at their own scale, voracious hunters.
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
Ref: 20240709_r70_20240608_1629_217+1630_239 beautiful demoiselle damselfly male fluttering wings 1+2 of 2 (montage)(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 08 Jun 2021
at 09:17 Image of day on 12 Jul 2021
There are perhaps a dozen male Beautiful Demoiselle Damselflies around
the various places they frequent as the 'sun moves round the heavens'.
.jpg)
Ref: 20210712_d73_20210608_0917_044 beautiful demoiselle damselfly male immature(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 08 Jun 2021
at 12:31 Image of day on 12 Jul 2021
Detail of a male Beautiful Demoiselle Damselfly shows
the intricate spines and hairs.
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
Ref: 20210712_d73_20210608_1231_072 beautiful demoiselle damselfly male immature (head detail)(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 01 Jun 2019
at 11:12 Image of day on 10 Jul 2019
A male Beautiful Demoiselle Damselfly with his blue iridescent body and dark wings.
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
Ref: 20190710_da1_20190601_1112_036_ft1 beautiful demoiselle damselfly male in flight (crop)(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 01 Jun 2019
at 11:14 Image of day on 10 Jul 2019
A male Beautiful Demoiselle Damselfly with his blue iridescent body and dark wings.
(r+mb id@576).jpg)
Ref: 20190710_da1_20190601_1114_042_ft1 beautiful demoiselle damselfly male in flight (crop)(r+mb id@576).jpg
Image Taken on 01 Jun 2019
at 13:36 Image of day on 10 Jul 2019
A male Beautiful Demoiselle Damselfly with his blue iridescent body and dark wings.
(r+mb id@576).jpg)
Ref: 20190710_da1_20190601_1336_228_ft1 beautiful demoiselle damselfly male in flight (crop)(r+mb id@576).jpg
Image Taken on 01 Jun 2019
at 13:54 Image of day on 10 Jul 2019
A male Beautiful Demoiselle Damselfly with his blue iridescent body and dark wings.
The Grey wings are accentuated here as he shows overlaps of 2 and 3 wings.
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
Ref: 20190710_da1_20190601_1354_251_ft1 beautiful demoiselle damselfly male in flight (crop)(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 22 May 2026
at 12:42 Image of day on 04 Jul 2026
In recent years we have been delighted to see Beautiful Demoiselle Damselflies
early in Spring, and this year has obliged again.
By Damselfly standards these are quite big - body about 45mm & wingspan 65mm.
.jpg)
Ref: 20260704_r52_20260522_1242_046 beautiful demoiselle damselfly male in rose thicket - 1st observed 21may2026(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 23 Jun 2015
at 14:50 Image of day on 25 Aug 2015
A male Beautiful Demoiselle Damselfly basking in the sun from a Hazel leaf.
.jpg)
Ref: 20150825_df3_20150623_1450_174 beautiful demoiselle damselfly male on hazel leaf(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 14 Jun 2019
at 16:00 Image of day on 01 Aug 2019
Even in the wet, windy and quite cold weather a few Beautiful Demoiselle Damselflies
are still hunting over the Duck-shaped pond. This is one of the males.
.jpg)
Ref: 20190801_df5_20190614_1600_033 beautiful demoiselle damselfly male on hop sedge over duck pond(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 28 May 2026
at 17:57 Image of day on 08 Jul 2026
A male Beautiful Demoiselle Damselfly - here the wings are aligned
and give their normal rather dark appearance.
.jpg)
Ref: 20260708_r52_20260528_1757_022 beautiful demoiselle damselfly male on leaf(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 25 May 2020
at 12:56 Image of day on 23 Jun 2020
A male Beautiful Demoiselle clearly showing his iridescent colour and
details of his tail end clasper he uses to grab the female 'by the neck'.
.jpg)
Ref: 20200623_d73_20200525_1256_009 beautiful demoiselle damselfly male perched on blackberry leaf(r+mb id@576).jpg
Image Taken on 12 Jun 2021
at 16:40 Image of day on 17 Jul 2021
Here is a male Beautiful Demoiselle Damselfly - more commonly seen that the
females at the moment. The 'break' in the body may look alarming, but the insect
can bend substantially at join of each of the 10 abdominal segments. This joint
between segments 2 & 3 contains the male's sexual organs.
.jpg)
Ref: 20210717_d73_20210612_1640_075 beautiful demoiselle damselfly male perched on twig showing sharp bend between segments 2 & 3(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 13 Jun 2021
at 15:09 Image of day on 17 Jul 2021
This male Beautiful Demoiselle Damselfly catches the light showing how the veins of the
wing create corrugations that give this incredibly lightweight structure surprising strength.
A form of natural origami!
.jpg)
Ref: 20210717_d73_20210613_1509_059 beautiful demoiselle damselfly male showing wing veins ridges very clearly(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 05 Jun 2015
at 15:16 Image of day on 10 Aug 2015
Much more detailed views of the teneral male Beautiful Demoiselle
perched in a hedge
.jpg)
Ref: 20150810_df3_20150605_1516_385 beautiful demoiselle damselfly male teneral(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 05 Jun 2015
at 12:28 Image of day on 10 Aug 2015
You see the beautiful blue sheen of the body of this male
Beautiful Demoiselle.
.jpg)
Ref: 20150810_df3_20150605_1228_375 beautiful demoiselle damselfly male teneral(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 04 Jun 2015
at 13:41 Image of day on 10 Aug 2015
This immature (teneral) male Beautiful Demoiselle was flitting
about in the hedges. The left and centre images were two perching
places on the edge of the same Hazel leaf. The right was a flyby
just over the same leaf (note that the legs are folded which
takes a few wing-beats to accomplish).
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
Ref: 20150810_df3_20150604_1341_163+164+1345_229 beautiful demoiselle damselfly male teneral on hazel leaf and in flight 1+2+8 of 8 (impression montage)(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 26 May 2019
at 10:21 Image of day on 30 Jun 2019
Beautiful Demoiselle Damselflies thoraxes are covered in fine hairs, but they
don't show well in most photos. Here backlighting makes them more obvious.
(r+mb id@576).jpg)
Ref: 20190630_df5_20190526_1021_115 beautiful demoiselle damselfly male with backlighting highlighting body hairs (crop with 2x insert)(r+mb id@576).jpg
Image Taken on 11 May 2024
at 11:20 Image of day on 03 Jun 2024
Next day we see another male Beautiful Demoiselle Damselfly nicely shadowed on the leaf he is standing on.
.jpg)
Ref: 20240603_df3_20240511_1120_061 beautiful demoiselle damselfly male with shadow on leaf(r+mb id@576).jpg
Image Taken on 23 May 2026
at 10:50 Image of day on 04 Jul 2026
This male Beautiful Demoiselle has his 4 wings nicely spread.
Backlighting makes the spread wings appear more lightly coloured than a normal view
with the wings aligned.
.jpg)
Ref: 20260704_r52_20260523_1050_154 beautiful demoiselle damselfly male with wings slightly separated(r+mb id@576).jpg
Comments and requests for image use
To make a comment, ask for information or to request a full
resolution image, send us an email including the reference or
the date for the image you are interested in.
All initial contacts should be made using the icon below:-
