Calopteryx virgo
• English name: Beautiful Demoiselle
• German name: Blauflügel-Prachtlibelle
• French name: Caloptéryx vierge
• Dutch name: Bosbeekjuffer
• Swedish name: Blå jungfruslända
• Norwegian name: Blåvingevannymfe
• Finnish name: Neidonkorento
• Danish name: Blåvinget pragtvandnymfe
• Italian name: Splendente di fonte
• Czech name: motýlice obecná
• Slovenian name: Modri bleščavec
• Bulgarian name: Синьо ромолниче
Calopteryx virgo
Map data based on J.-P. Boudot & V. J. Kalkman (eds.),
Atlas of the European Dragonflies and Damselflies
| General | • a large species which occurs throughout much of Europe; similar to C. splendens but with broader, completely opaque wings | |
| Classification | • suborder: Zygoptera (damselflies); family: Calopterygidae | |
| Conservation status | • IUCN Red List Europe: Least Concern | |
| Scientific name | • Calopteryx virgo (Linnaeus, 1758) | |
| Name genus | • Calopteryx: from Grk. καλός = beautiful +; πτέρυξ = wing | |
| Name species | • virgo: from Lat. virgo = maiden, virgin | |
| Distribution | • click or tap the Map button above | |
| Habitat | • fairly fast-flowing shady streams and brooks | |
| Dimensions | • typical body length: 45-49 mm; hindwing: 24-36 mm | |
| Notes | • its flight is fluttery and butterfly-like | |
| • males engage in a dazzling display flight to attract females into their territories | ||
| • to demonstrate the suitability of an ovipositing site males sit down on the water and allow the current to carry them by that site while 'flashing' the coloured underside of their abdomen tips at the females | ||
| • both males and females hold territories at the water | ||
| Both sexes | Wings | • the wings are wide, rounded and spoon-shaped |
| Male | Thorax | • the thorax is metallic dark green-blue |
| Abdomen | • the abdomen is metallic dark green-blue | |
| • the underside of the last three segments is yellowish white or, in the subspecies C. v. festiva, reddish pink | ||
| Wings | • the wings lack a (pseudo-)pterostigma | |
| ➤ the rounded wings are almost completely dark blue | ||
| Female | Thorax | • the thorax is metallic dark (brownish) green |
| Abdomen | • the top of the abdomen is metallic dark (brownish) green | |
| Wings | ➤ the rounded wings are opaque and smoky brown rather than translucent green; they bear a white pseudopterostigma positioned rather distant to the wing tip | |
| Photographs | • most of the photos we made in Italy show the subspecies C. v. meridionalis | |
| • the photos we made in Greece show the subspecies C. v. festiva |
LineDrawing: the female's head and thorax in lateral view.
Calopteryx virgo; wing, male
Note: The male's rounded wings are almost completely blue.
Calopteryx virgo; wing, female
Note: The pseudopterostigma in the opaque, rounded brown wing is positioned relatively far from the tip.
Beautiful Demoiselle (Calopteryx virgo)
Female head and thorax in lateral view
Drawing by Ruth Ilka Nüß
© 2013 Lehmann & Nüß and DragonflyPix.com
