LARGE RED DAMSELFLY

The Latin name for this damselfly is Pyrrhosoma nymphula.

Damselflies are slender, often brilliantly coloured insects and are fluttery in flight. They rest with their four wings held together above the back. The thorax of adults is rectangular and tilted 70 degrees to 80 degrees out of the bodyline. Adults feed on insects captured in flight. The nymphs are aquatic and have three leaf-like gills at the end of the abdomen.

The Large Red damselfly is common almost everywhere in the British Isles.

It is medium-sized, about 3cm long, and mainly red in colour, with some greenish to black markings and black legs. The male and female are similar, though the female has a black line and a pattern along the abdomen and the male has red eyes.

They usually fly from early May to August, and can be found near still or flowing water, such as lakes and rivers.

The dark brown nymphs live and feed among waterweeds, and usually take two years to complete their development.