Facts about the Banded Demoiselle damselfly

· Habitat

The Banded Demoiselle is found on rivers, streams and canals with moderate to slow water flow over beds of silt or mud and with plenty of waterside vegetation.

· Seasonality / Flight Period

Adults generally fly from mid-May to September.

· Life Cycle

Mating lasts 1-2 minutes, after which the male will guard his female while she lays eggs into the leaves or stems of aquatic plants.

The eggs take about two weeks to develop and the hatching larvae will live underwater amongst roots or aquatic vegetation, usually for two years. The transformation process from larva to adult is called ?emergence' and the Banded Demoiselle larvae will crawl out of the water to emerge on shrubs and trees.

© Environment Agency

· Behaviour

Banded Demoiselles have a graceful butterfly-like fluttering flight and are usually seen flying over riverside vegetation.

· Distribution of the Banded Demoiselle Calopteryx splendens

This species occurs throughout most of Europe. In Britain, the Banded Demoiselle is generally distributed in the lowlands and can be mostly found south of a line drawn from Blackpool to Middlesbrough.

Male Banded Demoiselle (© BDS/J.Stevens)

Distribution map showing all records to date for GB in the Dragonfly Recording Network database