A photo of a Scarce Emerald damselfly, perched up. One of the Emerald clan, it spreads its wings at rest. It's why it's also known as a Spreadwing.
Scarce Emerald damselfly Lestes dryas, from the family Lestidae. HMWT Balls Wood has a small colony.
#ScarceEmerald #Damselfly #Odonata #Riverlife #UKWildlife
So we went through the whole month of #libellente before I found out that there is in fact one UK species which the Netherlands doesn't have - Southern #Damselfly. I make an annual trip to the New Forest to see them. They are rare in the UK and a protected species. #UKWildlife #invertebrates
The Dutch butterfly society, who are also the people to follow for Dutch dragonflies, have gone for Copper Demoiselle, a close relative of our two demoiselle species but never seen as far north as here. #libellente #damselfly #invertebrates
For the final day of #libellente it's a free choice of post any species of #dragonfly or #damselfly you want. And a reminder that we're getting into dragon-hunting season so it's time to go and watch some real ones now. Jan's photo is Long Skimmer, seen in the far south of Europe. #invertebrates
De tweede #libellente-hit! De #GroteRoodoogjuffer
red-eyed damselfly
#Erythromma #damselfly #dragonflyphotography
#insectphotography #insectlovers #bugslife #Libelle #nature #PhotographersOfBluesky #ThePhotoHour #WildlifePhotography @libellenjan.bsky.social #ECK
Odonata has won again, but not by much! Do you think they'll make it to the top??
#entomologicalsocietyontario #greatontariobugoff #odonata #damselfly #dragonfly
Two damselflies sit on some blanket weed on the surface of a pond. There are air bubbles trapped within the weed, keeping it at the surface. The two insects have the tips of their abdomens each attached to the thorax of the other.
An image from back in 2021. Two Red-eyed Damselfies in Swindon, in the process of making their species slightly more common. #libellente #damselfly #invertebrates #UKWidlife #groteroodoogjuffer
A small insect sits on a sedge leaf. It is mainly black with blue sides to its thorax and a blue tip to its tail. Its eyes are red.
Small Red-eyed Damselfly for day 30 of #libellente. This one was at the wonderful RSPB reserve at Frampton Marsh, Lincolnshire, in August 2024. #damselfly #UKWildlife #invertebrates #kleineroodoogjuffer
A damselfly sitting on a twig. Behind it is green pond water, out of focus. The damselfly is blue, its abdomen having pointy black markings on top. If the photo showed the top of the abdomen clearer we would see a marking on the first large segment behind the thorax, which on Common Blue is a blob and on Azure Damsel is a u-shape. On this damselfly the marking is a bit like a goblet, hence the name.
The Goblet-marked Damselfly has blue eyes but is closely related to the red-eyed damsels. It's not found in the UK and until last summer I'd never seen one. This was my second ever, in Rome in September, after seeing one in Paris in August. #libellente #invertebrates #damselfly
You won't find this one in the UK but it's not too hard to find on the continent - a member of the red-eye genus in which neither gender has red eyes. Known in English as Goblet-marked #Damselfly due to the markings on the abdomen. #libellente #invertebrates
Large Red-eyed #damselfly is more widespread in the UK than the small red-eye. It's definitely larger, although you rarely see the two together so that's not much help. Once you get your eye in the differences in markings and behaviour are easy to spot. #libellente #invertebrates
Three species for #libellente today, only two of which are in the UK. Until maybe 20 years ago it was only one - Small Red-eyed #Damselfly has spread rapidly across southern England and reached Wales about a decade ago. I found the second site in Swindon for these, back in the day. #invertebrates
The clocks go forward (europe) an hour tonight, and April is upon us.
I look forward to seen these fantastic creatures again! #damselfly #blue #scarcered #macro #macrophotography
Our first pair up for round two… are you picking Odonata or Hemiptera!? 🐲🪰
Comment down below, you have until Monday to vote! 🗳️⬇️
#dragonfly #damselfly #cicadas #bugs #entomology
Here’s lookin’ at you! Blue Damselfly up close and personal 👀
#photo #photographer #wildlifephotographer #wildlife #nature #photography #damselfly #dragonfly #macro #macrophotography #eyes
Damselflies “mating wheel”.
#ColorADay
#CyanTuesday
#BlueTue 💙🩵
#insects
#damselfly
#Macro
#ECK
“Blue Heart”
@saintmaker.bsky.social
A long, thin, metallic green insect sits on a near-vertical twig. It holds its wings at about 45 degrees to its abdomen, not folded along the body like most damselflies.
Willow Emerald #damselfly in September 2023 at @rspbotmoor.bsky.social near Oxford. It's established itself there in the last few years having only reached the county n about 2020. #libellente #houtpantserjuffer #UKWildlife #invertebrates
A long, thin, green insect with long wings sits on a twig. It is a damselfly, but holds its wings open and out to the side rather than folded over its body. The wider family of damselflies it belongs to are called Spreadwings due to this behaviour.
Willow Emerald #damselfly for #libellente. Very rare in the UK 20 years ago it's now widespread in South-east England. Flies later in the year than Common Emerald & lays eggs into twigs above the water for protection. This one was in Paris last August. #invertebrates
Here's a nice photo of the scars left in a willow twig when Willow Emerald #damselfly has laid its eggs into it. A small number of eggs in each scar. They don't feed on the plant, they just use it for shelter. #libellente #invertebrates
Day 22. Willow Emerald. A different genus to our other emerald #damselfly species, larger and thinner. Unique among our odonata in laying eggs into tree twigs above ditches, rather than into the water. So it's easier to look for evidence of breeding than it is for other species. #libellente #ento
A small needle-shaped insect sits among blades of grass. It is a coppery-green colour. It has pale appendages at the end of the abdomen but no blue patches, unlike most Emerald species. The spots near the tips of the wings are black & white, where other emerald species would have a single colour.
Southern Emerald #damselfly for #libellente. This photo is of the only one I've ever seen, after several unsuccessful visits to the famous ditch in Canvey Island, which is the only UK site I know of that's beside a footpath. #UKWildlife #invertebrates #zwervendepantserjuffer
The first UK site for Southern Emerald #damselfly was near RSPB Cliffe Marshes in Kent, about 100m the wrong side of a fence & locked gate on private farmland. I am convinced the damselflies chose the spot purely to be annoying. #libellente
Two green damselflies clinging to a plant in a pond. The male has blue eyes and has grabbed the brown-eyed female just behind her head. She hasn't grabbed him yet but is raising the tip of her abdomen to do so.
Mating pair of Common Emerald #Damselfly for #libellente. Ravensroost Meadow in July 2022. Males of this species have a bit of a tendency to grab female damselflies without checking they're the right species, but in this case he got it right. #invertebrates #ukwildlife #gewonepantserjuffer
A green damselfly sits on a rush stem. The thorax is bright metallic green, the eyes blue. The abdomen is green with pale blue areas at the front and rear. On the end of the abdomen are large hook-shaped appendages which the male uses to grab the female during mating.
Common Emerald #Damselfly for #libellente. Mature male showing green colouring and pale blue patches on the abdomen. Eyes blue, but not as blue as Scarce Emerald is. Ravensroost Meadow nature reserve, Wiltshire in August 2023. #invertebrates #ukwildlife #gewonepantserjuffer
A long, thin insect, bright green with an orange patch at the back of its thorax. It is sitting on a blade of grass. Its wings are held spread out, not folded along its back as most damselflies do.
Common Emerald #Damselfly for #libellente. This is a newly-emerged male, with bright green colouring, blue patches not developed & the wing spots still very pale. Sadly not as common in the UK as it once was. In Wiltshire in June 2023. #invertebrates #ukwildlife #gewonepantserjuffer
A small, long, thin, greenish-bronze coloured insect sits on a blade of grass. Its eyes are bright blue. There are pale blue patches on its abdomen. It holds its wings spread out, like other Emerald species, not folded along its body like most damselflies.
Scarce Emerald for #libellente. Only found in eastern England in the UK, Essex being best for it. This one was in Canvey Island in July 2023. Males have really bright blue eyes. Colour looks green or bronze depending on the angle of the light. #damselfly #UKWildlife #ento #tangpantserjuffer
Common Emerald and Scarce Emerald #damselfly are tricky to tell apart until you've really got your eye in - the hardest species pair to separate among the UK species. But outside East Anglia and Kent you're only going to see Common. #libellente #invertebrates
Today while waist deep in mud trying to get myself out, I noticed a #damselfly watching me. When I got out, I took out my camera and took a photo. So #blue
Observed on the 23rd of July 2025 a male White-legged Damselfly (Platycnemis pennipes) hangs from a grass stem. The Damselfy is actually mainly pale blue with black markings and has small orange spots towards the ends of its wings..
A White-legged Damselfly (Platycnemis pennipes)
#ColorADay #BlueTue #Damselfly #Macro
A robber fly hangs near-vertically from a leafy forb, while grasping a damselfly. The robber fly doesn't look at all like a housefly; it has narrow oval eyes, a hairy gray thorax, and a long gray abdomen backed by long, narrow, translucent wings. The damselfly victim has brown eyes, a striped thorax, and a long, dark abdomen. The damselfly's transparent wings, folded back along its abdomen, are reddish at their bases. The rest of the image is taken up with toothed green leaves against a blurred-out orange-brown background.
One for the entomophiles: a robber fly (Proctacanthus sp.) and its rubyspot damselfly (Hetaerina sp.) victim. I took this picture on June 25, 2025 but only now learned the genus for the robber fly. (My thanks to Chris Cohen via BugGuide).
#nature #naturephotography #robberfly #damselfly
