Large Red Damselfly (Pyrrhosoma nymphula) – I saw two of these around the garden pond today … and they were on the hunt. Although not power fliers like the larger dragonflies, they were quick and nimble, and I watched one of them snatch a fly out of mid-air. I was quite amazed how they soon got used to my presence and allowed me to get fairly close up to them with my macro lens. Double-click on images to enlarge.
© Peter Hillman ♦ 26th April 2020 ♦ Rear garden, South Staffordshire ♦ Nikon D7200
Pyrrhosoma nymphula – I saw three of these around the garden pond fluttering lazily in the sunshine before settling down again. I know they breed in the pond, as I have seen their larvae under the water.
© Peter Hillman ♦ 25th April 2020 ♦ Rear garden, South Staffordshire ♦ Nikon D7200
Calopteryx splendens – I always enjoy seeing these down by the river in summer. This is the rather handsome male. Feel free to click to enlarge and click again to get even closer.
Copyright: Peter Hillman
Camera used: Nikon D7200
Date taken: 16th July 2019
Place: Local river, Staffordshire
Feel free to click to enlarge and click again to get even closer.
July 2019, near local river, South Staffordshire, England. © Pete Hillman.
Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum), July 2018 Derwentwater, Cumbria, England. © Pete Hillman.
This is the mature female typica form, which has the same colours as the male. I don’t think my eyes will ever tire of seeing such a beautiful, rich and vibrant combination of blues.
May 2018, pond edge, Stourport-on-Severn, Worcestershire, England. © Pete Hillman Sigma 18-300mm.
If I really had to pick one, this would be my very favourite damselfly. I believe this is a very fine and handsome male. I felt privileged to capture his picture, for they never usually allow you to get too close to them, or stay still for so long.
Click once to expand view, click again to get that little bit closer
Playing with my new lens … May 2018, woodland path, Staffordshire, England. © Pete Hillman
These are the first of the Large Red Damselfly Pyrrhosoma nymphula I have seen around my garden pond this season.
May 2018, rear garden pond Staffordshire, England. © Pete Hillman
Blue-tailed Damselfly (Ischnura elegans), rear garden pond, Staffordshire, England. July 2017
I have been watching these beautiful damselflies for quite sometime as they flitter about my garden pond. The are on the hunt. They will find a favourite perch and then when a small fly comes into their airspace they make a go of catching it. They are not always succesful, but this one was. I think it may have caught a plant louse of some kind, and it didn’t waste any of it.
Quite messy eaters though. You got a bit stuck there … yes just there … above your top lip …
Please click on an image for a larger more detailed view. Clicking a second time may get you a little closer.
Rear garden, Staffordshire, England. July 2017.
A few more images I manged to take as this Azure Damselfly (Coenagrion puella), revisted my garden. With the top down view you can see more of its markings, especially the flat-bottomed U-shape mark on segment 2.
Rear garden pond, Staffordshire, England. June 2017.
I caught this damsel damselfly basking in sun which was just making it through a cloud covered sky.
Please click on an image for a larger more detailed view. Clicking a second time may get you a little closer.
Rear garden, Staffordshire, England. June 2017.
A new damselfly sighting for me, and in my own backyard. This one was competing for perches around my pond with half a dozen or so Large Red Damselfly (Pyrrhosoma nymphula), and stood his (yes, it is male) ground pretty well. Length 33mm (1in). Similar to other blue damselflies, so care has to be taken in identification. In males look for a characteristic black flat-bottomed U-shape mark on S2, and S8 is completely blue, S9 having some black markings towards the rear. The female is green but a pale blue form occurs.
It can be seen May to August near small ponds and streams. Very common throughout Britain except in northern parts of Scotland.
Please click on an image for a larger more detailed view. Clicking a second time may get you a little closer.
Rear garden pond, Staffordshire, England. June 2017.
There is still a lot of activity around the garden pond, as can be seen in the above image.
Large Red Damselfly (Pyrrhosoma nymphula) mating, rear garden pond, Staffordshire, England. June 2017.
From the female I observed last June laying eggs in my garden pond, to the hatched larvae which lived beneath the still water, to their emergence in spring as adults, and now they have gone a full cycle. Here we have a mating pair of the Large Red Damselfly (Pyrrhosoma nymphula), ensuring the perpetuation of the species.
Garden pond, Staffordshire, England. June 2017.
With a break in the weather today, I couldn’t have thought of a better way to spend the last day of my short holiday but down by the river. The bank is quite deeply cut so after scrambling down I sat down and just listened to the sounds of the river flowing by and the bird song from the wooded slopes.
There was three or four of these bright blue male Banded Demoiselle (Calopteryx splendens) damselflies fluttering over the river and the bank. Occasionally they would alight on nearby vegetation. Yes, these are slow-moving compared to the larger dragonflies.
I was fortunate enough to observe a green and golden female laying eggs amongst the river flora.
Down by the river with demoiselles, and another year older, what a beautiful day indeed.
Local river, Staffordshire, England. June 2017.
After emerging from my garden pond the damselflies appeared to have gone off to greener pastures. But they appear to be returning back home, and here is one waiting for small flies to come by to snap out of the air to eat as food, resting on an iris leaf stretched across still waters.
Large Red Damselfly (Pyrrhosoma nymphula), rear garden pond, Staffordshire, England. June 2017.
Identifying dragonflies and damselflies can be quite challenge at times, especially as they go through their stages and can have many forms. This is a first for me, and for the garden pond. It is a Blue-tailed Damselfly (Ischnura elegans form rufescens) female immature. The females of this particular species actually come in five colour forms, and this is one of the five.
Garden pond, Staffordshire. England. May 2017.
Out in the garden this morning, and as always I go to see what’s happening around the pond. I switch on my pump, which has no filter and is open, and helps oxygenate the pond, although I think the oxygenating plants are doing a good job, but the sound and movement of water is always relaxing. And what do I notice? A freshly emerged Large Red Damselfly (Pyrrhosoma nymphula). drying out in the early morning sun. It’s larval skin which can be seen on the other side of the tube in partial shade, discarded like an old suit. It was lucky it hadn’t gone up in a jet of water when I initially switched the pump on!
It must be the main season for emergence as I discovered lots of these freshly emerged damselflies clinging to pond plants with their old larval skins nearby.
Below, here is one that was made earlier, and is still reluctant to fly until it gets used to its new life out of the water and living in the air.
Please click on the images for a larger, more detailed view.
Edit: Walter, who runs an excellent blog with some astoundingly detailed photographs of dragonflies has observed that this is a female, as indicated by the prominent ovipositor visible on the ventral side of the tip of her abdomen. You can visit his blog via Walter Sandford’s Photoblog.
Large Red Damselfly (Pyrrhosoma nymphula) newly emerged, rear garden pond, Staffordshire, England. May 2017.
Today has been another exceptionally hot May day, and this afternoon I noticed quite a few recently emerged Large Red Damselfly (Pyrrhosoma nymphula) on plants around my garden pond. And I was delighted to find one which had left it’s larval skin behind.
Dragonflies and damselflies don’t go through a pupation stage similar to other insects like butterflies and moths. Final-stage larvae may sit for several days in shallow water getting ready for their final moult, breathing air. The larvae climb up vegetation near the water’s edge and secure a perch for emergence. In the above images one individual has done just this, and climbed a fair distance to find a good spot for the final transformation. Amazingly, in this state they redistribute their body fluids and push out first their thorax, head, legs and wings. These are allowed to harden before the abdomen is finally withdrawn, which in turn needs time to harden. Transformation is complete, and an adult is born.
In the images directly above and below, things may have not gone quite to plan for this newly emerged damselfly. Note how the exuvia (the cast skin), is still attached. The wings have not fully retracted and are trapped within. It may eventually free itself, but until then it will not be able to fly and is at the mercy of predation.
In a future post I will combine some of the images to show the life cycle which has, to my great surprise, taken 11 months from egg to adult.
Rear garden pond, Staffordshire, England. May 2017.
The teneral damselflies are still coming and appearing around the pond. This one could hardly fly at all. It was clinging to a stem of my Water Mint. I like the way the light catches the wings and brings out the colour spectrum.
Please click on the images for larger, mored detailed views.
Large Red Damselfly (Pyrrhosoma nymphula) teneral, rear garden, Staffordshire, England. May 2017.
Large Red Damselfly (Pyrrhosoma nymphula) tenerals, rear garden, Staffordshire, England. May 2017.
Out in the garden today, and with blue skies and wall to wall sunshine is was time take the first photos of May. I sat by my pond, and within a couple of minutes I noticed a small damselfly resting on my Yellow Iris growing in the pond. It was in an awkward position to photo, so I thought I might risk coaxing it with my finger into a new position. It actually gripped the end of my finger and allowed me to place it elsewhere. It was very small, and when it flew it flew weakly and didn’t fly very far.
Then as I took a few snaps of it, I noticed a few others on bushes and plants near the pond. They were all the same species, the Large Red Damselfly (Pyrrhosoma nymphula), and appeared to be tenerals, newly emerged. Most of them seemed quite happy to just hang around in the sun as can be seen from this series of images.
Knowing I had Large Red Damselfly nymphs in my garden pond I did wonder whether these had developed from here, but they had only been there for a year, which might just be long enough, I guess.
Please click on the images for larger, mored detailed views.
Large Red Damselfly (Pyrrhosoma nymphula) tenerals, rear garden, Staffordshire, England. May 2017.
Please click on the image for a larger view.
The light was not so good late yesterday afternoon, but I was determined to try and get a photograph of one of the many Large Red Damselfly (Pyrrhosoma nymphula) larvae which inhabit my garden pond in its natural setting. This one was on a stone in the shallows near the pond’s edge. I cannot believe how quickly they are growing since I first saw them last August.
I have just popped out to the garden pond to see if there was any nightlife there, maybe a frog or a newt. No, not tonight. But to my utter surprise there was 30 to 40 or more of these Large Red Damselfly (Pyrrhosoma nymphula) larvae on rocks beneath the water apparently feeding on algae. I have seen one or two during the day, but now realise these are very much nocturnal feeders, and didn’t realise how many there were in there. The image of the nymph above was taken last year, so they have grown since then.
I think it all goes back to last year when I spotted this female Large Red Damselfly laying eggs at the bottom of my Water Mint. Apparently they can lay up to 350 eggs at a time!
This morning when I went to have a look at my garden pond under an overcast sky, peering close at the submerged rocks and stones I noticed a few of these early stage damselfy nymps.
My mind went back to June when I saw a Large Red Damselfly (Pyrrhosoma nymphula) female laying eggs at the base of my Water Mint. I consulted one of my many books to see if it was the larva of this damselfly, and I believe it is.
These are just a little smaller than a common garden ant, and can be quite a challenge to photo, especially on an overcast day and submerged in pond water, so I removed one specimen and placed it in a crock dish to have more control over the conditions. It was released back into the water unharmed after it had completed its photo shoot.
I could have to wait for up to 3 years for the larvae to develop into mature flying adult damselflies.
Photographs taken of Large Red Damselfly (Pyrrhosoma nymphula) early stage nymph in August 2016, rear garden pond, Staffordshire. © Pete Hillman 2016. Camera used Nikon D3200, with Sigma 105mm macro lens.
The wings of the mature male are a very dark blue, almost black, where the female’s wings are an iridescent green-brown with a false white spot near the tips. The male’s body is a metallic blue-green, and the female’s metallic green with a bronze-tipped abdomen. Body length up to 50mm. Forewing 40mm.
The males are very territorial, and perch on vegetation as look-outs warding off unwelcome visitors. The females can lay up to 300 eggs at a time in emergent or floating vegetation. The larvae develop for over two years before emerging as adults.
It flies May to August, and it is found near slow-flowing streams and rivers, in farmland and woodland. Common and widespread in the south-west of England and Wales and southern Ireland, but absent or local in the rest of England, Scotland, and northern Ireland.
There is nothing more calming and more beautiful than taking a pleasant stroll along the river bank on a fine summer’s morning. This striking blue damselfly from the family of dragonflies called Coenagrionidae, which are the Narrow-winged dragonflies, caught my eye. After a few minutes of playing hard to get, it finally settled down and kindly allowed me a fairly long photo session with it.
Please click on the images for a larger view.
The males are bright blue, where the females occur as blue or dull green. Both sexes have broad blue stripes on the thorax which help readily identify the species. Similar to other blue damselflies and the White-legged Damselfly. Body length 32mm. Forewing 20mm.
The eggs are laid in surface vegetation, and after hatching, the larvae live amongst aquatic vegetation before emerging as adults one or more years later.
Flies May to September, and are found in a wide range of habitats with either sill or flowing water such as ponds, rivers and lakes. The most abundant and widespread of all the dragonflies in the UK.
Photographs taken June 2016, local river, Staffordshire.
The afternoons seem to be the time the damselflies like to visit my garden pond and hang around a little. Yesterday a red one visited, and today a blue one, or rather a light greenish-blue one. This one was another female called the Blue-tailed Damselfly (Ischnura elegans).
Photographs taken June 2016, rear garden pond, Staffordshire.
This afternoon I happen to be lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time. As I am on holiday this week, I was relaxing by my garden pond when I saw a Large Red Damselfly (Pyrrhosoma nymphula) alight on a nearby plant. I grabbed my camera and got one shot off when it lifted off and dropped to the base of my Water Mint growing in the pond. To my surprise it looked like it was laying eggs at the base of the stem. It was there for a short while, then it shifted position to another stem to do the same thing.
Photographs taken of Large Red Damselfly (Pyrrhosoma nymphula) in June 2016, rear garden pond, Staffordshire. © Pete Hillman 2016. Camera used Nikon D3200, with Sigma 105mm macro lens.
Down by the river today I came across these bright blue damselflies resting in tall grass on the river bank. All appear to be male, although the females have up to five different colour forms, and one is very much like the males. It can be a patient game photographing these up close with a macro lens as they can be fairly skittish. The good thing is they don’t always fly far if disturbed, and they do seem to get used to you after a time.
Quite a distinctive damselfly with its bright blue tail and blue stripes on the thorax. Other colour forms exist which may lead to confusion, particularly with the female. Body length 30mm. Forewing 15 to 20mm.
Pairs may spend up to six hours mating, and are commonly found in the ‘wheel’ position.
Seen may to August, and found in a wide range of habitats amongst waterside vegetation. This is one of Britain’s commonest damselflies, widespread mainly in the south.
Photographs taken June 2016, local river, Staffordshire.
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