Here’s a full natural history overview of the Beautiful Demoiselle (Calopteryx virgo), one of Europe’s most striking damselflies:

Beautiful Demoiselle (Calopteryx virgo)

Taxonomy & Classification

• Kingdom: Animalia
• Phylum: Arthropoda
• Class: Insecta
• Order: Odonata
• Suborder: Zygoptera (damselflies)
• Family: Calopterygidae (broad-winged damselflies)
• Genus: Calopteryx
• Species: C. virgo

General Description

The Beautiful Demoiselle is a large, iridescent damselfly, famous for its shimmering wings and elegant courtship displays.

• Length: 45–49 mm.
• Wingspan: 65–75 mm.
• Coloration:
  • Males: Metallic blue-green body with dark, iridescent blue wings.
  • Females: Metallic green-bronze body with brown-green translucent wings and a pale pseudopterostigma (wing spot).
• Flight: Fluttering, butterfly-like compared to other damselflies.

Behavior & Lifestyle

• Activity: Diurnal, flying mainly from May to September (peak in June–July).
• Hunting:
  • Perches on riverside vegetation.
  • Catches small flying insects—midges, mosquitoes, blackflies—on the wing.
• Courtship:
  • Males defend riverbank territories.
  • Perform a “butterfly dance” by fluttering wings to attract females.
  • Females lay eggs underwater on aquatic plants, often while still attached to the male.

Reproduction & Life Cycle

• Mating: Involves the characteristic odonate “wheel position.”
• Egg-laying (oviposition): Females submerge, inserting eggs into plant tissue.
• Larvae (nymphs): Aquatic, predatory, with extendable jaws for catching prey.
• Development time: 1–2 years in cooler climates.
• Emergence: Nymphs crawl out of the water, shed their skins, and transform into adults.

Habitat

• Prefers clean, fast-flowing rivers and streams, often shaded by trees.
• Found along gravelly or sandy riverbeds with abundant vegetation.

Geographic Range

• Europe: Widespread from the British Isles across central and northern Europe.
• Asia: Extends through Russia, the Caucasus, and into parts of the Middle East and Central Asia.
• North Africa: Scattered populations in Morocco and Algeria.

Ecological Role

• Predator: Controls populations of midges, mosquitoes, and other small flying insects.
• Prey: Food for birds, spiders, frogs, and dragonfly larvae.
• Indicator species: Sensitive to water quality—its presence signals clean, healthy rivers.

Special Adaptations

• Males’ wing coloration is structural, caused by light interference, not pigments.
• Females’ submersion oviposition allows eggs to be laid safely underwater.
• Larvae have gill-like appendages at the tail end, enabling aquatic respiration.

Conservation Status

• IUCN Red List: Least Concern.
• Population: Stable and common across much of its range.
• Threats: River pollution, damming, deforestation, and watercourse modification.

Interesting Facts

• Males aggressively chase intruders from their riverbank territories.
• In some areas, males show subtle regional differences in wing color, a form of geographic variation.
• The fluttering flight makes them resemble butterflies, which is unusual among damselflies.
• Closely related to the Banded Demoiselle (Calopteryx splendens), but with more uniformly dark male wings.

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