insects

With June being the start of their flight season, we’re receiving more and more reports of spectacular damselflies with “very dark wings”. A quick search of Google Images or Wikimedia tends to find American species such as the Ebony Jewelwing Calopteryx maculata, also known as the Black-winged Damselfly, but it isn’t necessary to expect them to have crossed the Atlantic. In Britain we have two species of our own and they’re just as attractive.

The males use their showy wings to signal to each other and to females, as shown spectacularly in high-speed filming, where the action can be slowed down many times.