The banded demoiselle (''Calopteryx splendens'') is a species of

damselfly Damselflies are flying insects of the suborder Zygoptera in the order Odonata. They are similar to dragonflies, which constitute the other odonatan suborder, Anisoptera, but are smaller and have slimmer bodies. Most species fold the wings alo ...

belonging to the family

Calopterygidae The Calopterygidae are a family of damselflies, in the suborder Zygoptera. They are commonly known as the broad-winged damselflies, demoiselles, or jewelwings. These rather large damselflies have wingspans of 50–80 mm (compared to about 4 ...

. It is often found along slow-flowing streams and

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the ...

s. It is a

Eurasia Eurasia (, ) is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. Primarily in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres, it spans from the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Japanese archipelag ...

n species occurring from the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

coast eastwards to

Lake Baikal Lake Baikal (, russian: Oзеро Байкал, Ozero Baykal ); mn, Байгал нуур, Baigal nuur) is a rift lake in Russia. It is situated in southern Siberia, between the Federal subjects of Russia, federal subjects of Irkutsk Oblast, I ...

and northwestern China. This is a common species throughout much of its range.

Description

This is a large damselfly with a total length of up to and a hindwing length of up to . Male and female are variable in color and pattern. The male has

translucent In the field of optics, transparency (also called pellucidity or diaphaneity) is the physical property of allowing light to pass through the material without appreciable scattering of light. On a macroscopic scale (one in which the dimensions ...

wings which each have a broad, dark iridescent blue-black spot (or band) across the outer part. On immature individuals the spot is dark brown. The body can be a metallic blue or bluish green or a combination of both colours, depending on the time of year and location. The dark wing patch of the male starts at the nodus (the slight dip midway down the upper edge of the wing) but can reach up to the wing-tip in southern races. In the very similar

beautiful demoiselle The beautiful demoiselle (''Calopteryx virgo'') is a European damselfly belonging to the family Calopterygidae. It is often found along fast-flowing waters where it is most at home. Subspecies Subspecies include: *''Calopteryx virgo britannica' ...

(''Calopteryx virgo''), the dark patch starts before the nodus. The female has translucent, pale green iridescent wings with a white patch near the tip (a pseudopterostigma), and a metallic green or bronze/green body.

Eggs and larvae

Females can lay up to 10 eggs per minute for 45 minutes. They lay in a wide variety of emergent or floating plants, sometimes even submerging to do so. The eggs hatch after 14 days. The

larva A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. Th ...

e have very long legs and are stick-shaped. They develop over two years, usually. They tolerate muddy water and overwinter buried in mud. When they are ready to moult into an adult, they climb up a suitable reed or plant and shed their skin.

Habitat

This species lives in many types of freshwater habitat, particularly open running water bodies such as streams and smaller rivers.

Behaviour

Males are usually

territorial A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or an ...

, but large numbers can sometimes be found in lush bankside plants and on floating objects. They court females by opening their wings and performing an aerial dance. They are usually found in canals and quiet rivers with muddy bottoms located in open country.

Range

The banded demoiselle is a

n species, and is present throughout Eurasia from the

coast to

and north-western China. It occurs in Taganay and

Zyuratkul Zyuratkul (; ba, Йөрәккүл) is a freshwater lake in Satkinsky District, Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia. The name "Zyuratkul" comes from the Bashkir ''"yöräk/kul"'' (йөрәк/күл), meaning "heart/lake". In 1993 the Zyuratkul Nation ...

National Parks of Russia.''Calopteryx splendens'' (Harris, 1782)
– Красная Книга Челябинской области: животные, растения, грибы / Министерство по радиационной и экологической безопасности Челябинской области, Ин-т экологии растений и животных УрО РАН. – Екатеринбург: Изд-во Урал. ун-та, 2005. – 450 с.: ил. It can be found at

Fruška Gora Fruška gora ( sr-Cyrl, Фрушка гора; hu, Tarcal-hegység) is a mountain in Syrmia, administratively part of Serbia with a part of its western side extending into eastern Croatia. The area under Serbian administration forms the country ...

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hung ...

. It's found throughout the

British Isles The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles (O ...

, except for the

Scottish Highlands The Highlands ( sco, the Hielands; gd, a’ Ghàidhealtachd , 'the place of the Gaels') is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland ...

Gallery

Banded demoiselle damselfly (Calopteryx splendens) male adult bluish green.jpg, blue-green male Banded demoiselle damselfly (Calopteryx splendens) male adult green.jpg, green male Banded demoiselle damselfly (Calopteryx splendens) male adult blue.jpg, blue male Banded Demoiselle (Calopteryx splendens) male juvenile.jpg, red eyes of juvenile male Banded demoiselle (Calopteryx splendens) female.jpg, bronze/green female Banded demoiselle damselfly (Calopteryx splendens) female metallic bronze.jpg, bronze female Banded demoiselle damselfly (Calopteryx splendens) female no pseudostigmata.jpg, female with no pseudostigmata CalopteryxSplendensNymph.JPG, Larva Calopteryx splendens (male).ogv, Male ''Calopteryx splendens'' Calopteryx splendens qtl7.jpg, Mating wheel