Conversation
Notices
-
🚨 ARTHROPOD OF THE DAY 🚨
The beautiful demoiselle (Calopteryx virgo) is a species of damselfly belonging to the family Calopterygidae. It is found in Europe, North Africa, and Western Asia. It is often found along fast-flowing waters.
The male usually has much more extensive pigmentation on the wings than other Calopteryx species in its range. In the southeast of its range (the Balkans and Turkey), the wings are entirely metallic blue. In other areas, the wings have clear spots at the base and the tip. Immature males have brown wings, as the metallic blue wing color develops only with age. They have metallic blue-green bodies and blue-green eyes.
The female has dark brown iridescent wings, a white patch near the tip of the wings (called a pseudopterostigma) and a metallic green body with a bronze tip of the abdomen.
Mating takes place in a way that for the genus Calopteryx and is typical of an eye-catching advertising behavior precedes. The females fly over the water, always in search of suitable nesting places and fly it through the territories of males. The males who recognize the females to the reflections of the moving wings, fly towards it, once they have crossed the border area. They use a striking Schwirrflug that only in the courtship will be shown, and demonstrate the underside of its abdomen raised high. The last three segments of it are much brighter and are referred to as a "lantern" that will be presented.