Damselflies

It’s been perfect weather for nature watching recently, and we’ve spent some long days at Wiltshire Wildlife Trust reserves. Among many beautiful biota, some of the most striking are the damselflies. So slight, and agile, they often appear as flashes within one’s peripheral vision. The best way to see them is to pause, and watch. So last week, we did just that. As a group of adults and children, we paused, and we watched.

It didn’t take us long to spot clusters of the brightly coloured insects weaving between the long grass. The blue males were the most active, arriving in groups to try to tempt resting females.

Life Cycle

The damselfly starts life as an egg, which hatches into a nymph. Nymphs do not have wings, and live in and around water. Damselflies are one of the insect species which undergo incomplete metamorphosis on their way to full size. That is, they have three life stages: egg, nymph, adult. Others, butterflies for example, undergo complete metamorphosis in four stages: egg, larva, pupa, and adult. Transforming in three stages sees the nymph shed its skin several times on the way to full size. It grows a little, and changes shape every time it does so.

Most of the damselflies we spotted were the common blue variety. These are the most frequently seen UK damselflies, living around bodies of water from April to September. Having spent up to three years as a nymph, the life expectancy of an adult damselfly is just a few weeks. The males are bright blue, while the females are duller shades of blue and brown.

Damselflies form what’s known as a ‘mating wheel’ when coupling. I always think of it as more of a heart shape than a wheel. The male grasps the female tightly at the back of her neck, while she curves her body round to meet his reproductive organs. Afterwards, the pair tend to remain together so the male can guard the female while she lays the eggs.

The mating wheel

The damselflies remain together

Eggs are laid just beneath the water surface

The male protects the female during egg laying

Identification

There are seventeen different types of damselfly in the UK. Among them are the following, which I have been fortunate to photograph at various reserves:

Red-eyed damselfly

Common blue damselfly

Blue-tailed damselfly

Differentiating between damselflies and dragonflies can be difficult when they’re in flight. Damselflies are generally smaller, with much slimmer bodies, and do not fly as quickly as dragonflies.

At rest, damselflies close their wings flat down their back, whereas dragonflies leave theirs perpendicular to their body. If you’re able to see the insect close up, dragonflies also have slightly different shaped front and rear wings. The ones at the back don’t taper into the body in the way the front ones do. Damselflies, however, have the same shaped wings at the front and back.

Dragonflies also have much larger eyes (in proportion to their head) than damselflies. In both cases, the insects rely on sight for hunting their prey, usually midges and mosquitoes.

Examples of Dragonflies

These are again taken from my own explorations; a small selection of the thirty-six different dragonfly species in the UK.

Four-spotted chaser

Black-tailed skimmer

Broad-bodied chaser

We had a wonderful time watching the damselflies. I was particularly pleased to see a number of male and females, which gave the children a chance to learn to recognise the colour differential between the two. They were fascinated in watching the coupling process, and particularly impressed at the sight of pairs flying in tandem.

Slowing down to watch nature around us reminded me, again, of the wonder of seeing things through the eyes of a child. The attention they put into observing and learning is inspiring. I am already looking forward to our next adventure.

Did You Know?

Dragonflies and damselflies are part of the same family of insect, which were around 250 million years ago. The largest insect at that time had a wingspan of over 70cm!

Find out more about these beautiful insects at:
The British Dragonfly Society
The Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
The Wildlife Trusts