Both sexes have azure blue spots on each abdominal segment and the thorax also has azure markings. The markings on the male are brighter and more conspicuous than in the female.
A small darter with black legs and broad hind wings. Both sexes have a brown band across each wing just inside the pale yellow to red pterostigma. The male is blood-red and the female ochre-brown...
Only two species of damselfly in Britain have obviously coloured wings. They both belong to the genus Calopteryx. In this species the wings of the mature male are very dark blue-black...
Mature males always have a blue spot at the "tail" (S8), blue ant-humeral stripes on the thorax and blue eyes. Females vary with at least 5 different colour forms. The thoracic markings...
The Brilliant Emerald has apple green eyes and the abdomen and thorax are dark metallic emerald green with a bright bronze sheen. The wings are suffused by saffron, particularly in the female. In...
The very broad, flattened abdomen is characteristic making the insect appear "fat". Both sexes have pale blue, thin ante-humeral stripes and brown eyes. The wing bases are very dark...
A large Hawker with obvious golden brown wings. Both sexes have strong yellow stripes on the sides of the thorax and no ante-humeral stripes. The male is chocolate brown with small blue and yellow...
The Club-tailed Dragonfly is a medium sized species with a distinctively club-shaped abdomen as suggested by its common name. Females and teneral males are mainly black with extensive yellow...
In many ways this could be considered to be the most typical British damselfly. It shares its blue and black colouration with several other species. It can be distinguished from the others by its...
This Hawker has paired spots on each abdominal segment, two broad stripes on the sides of the thorax and the costa is yellow in both sexes. The male has quite small blue spots on each segment of...
Both sexes appear yellowish when viewed from the underside. The pale brown pterostigma is longer than in other Coenagrion species. In the male, S2 has a "wine-goblet" shaped mark,...
The Downy Emerald is one of three Emerald dragonflies found in Britain. It is a metallic green dragonfly with a copper sheen and noticeable bright apple green eyes. The male has a slightly club...
This damselfly is metallic green. The male develops a blue pruinescence on segments 1, 2, 9 and 10 as it matures. The female is thicker bodied than the male with no blue pruinescence. The...
Length: 78mmBritain's bulkiest Dragonfly. Its bright colours and active habit make it very obvious when hunting over medium to large water bodies. It rarely settles, even eating its prey in flight...
Both sexes have a brown ground colour becoming darker over the head and almost orange on the sides of the thorax. The posterior half of the abdomen is black with the sides of the abdomen edged...
A striking, black and insect with yellow rings along the length of the abdomen. The female is the UKs longest dragonfly because of her long ovipositor. The bright green eyes meet only at a point...
This large Hawker is one of the commonest in North America but in 1998, after hurricane conditions in the USA, it was recorded from the Scilly Isles and Cornwall. It is similar in appearance to...
The UK's smallest Hawker, emerging before other Hawkers in May. It has a distinctly hairy thorax (see photos), oval spots on each abdominal segment and a long, thin pterostigma. The male is dark...
Length: 40-44mmThe abdomen appears quite slim and has a pronounced dorsal keel. The wings have a straw yellow costa and yellow or brown pterostigma. At rest, the wings are often held well forward...
Length: 36mmA large, active, deep red damselfly with black legs and a bronze-black top to the thorax which has broad red or yellow stripes. The female exists in several colour forms varying in the...
A small Hawker, not aggressive towards other individuals and occasionally seen in large feeding swarms. It flies late into the autumn and is likely to be the only Hawker found in November. The...
At first glance, both sexes resemble Blue-tailed Damselfly rather than other Coenagrion species. The pale brown pterostigma is longer than in other Coenagrion species. The male has no ante-humeral...
The Norfolk Hawker is one of 2 brown hawker dragonflies found in Britain. It has clear untinted wings, green eyes and a yellow triangular mark on the second abdominal segment.
This species is found in only a few small lochans in Scotland. In the male, S2 has a rather variable, spear-head shaped spot linked rather like the cards ? "Spades" symbol. S8 and S9 are...
The Northern Emerald has bluish-green (sometimes yellowish) eyes. The wings are faintly suffused with saffron. The thorax are metallic bronze green but the abdomen is quite dark. The male has an...
The Orange-spotted Emerald has bright green eyes and yellow or orange, elongated spots along the length of the dorsal surface of the abdomen. The thorax and ground colour of the slender abdomen is...
A robust looking damselfly with a dark greyish abdomen and a blue tail in the male. The eyes of the male are deep red and the thorax in both sexes is bronze black on top. The female has short,...
The bright red males and clear yellow-brown females are attractive. The eyes are brown above and blue below and the wing bases are yellow. The pterostigma is yellow to orange strongly outlined in...
This species is smaller than the Common Darter. The legs are entirely black. An intense orange colouration can be seen only at the very base of the wings. The pterostigma is brown. There are...
The Scarce Blue-tailed is one of a number of small British Damselflies. Typically Males have a black abdomen with green or blue sides and a small patch of blue near the tip covering segments eight...
The mature male Scarce Chaser possesses pale blue pruinescence on the abdomen. Its eyes are blue. However, prior to maturation the male and female look very similar and are highly distinctive with...
The Scarce Emerald Damselfly is a medium sized metallic green insect that usually rests with its wings half open. Adult males have blue eyes and have powder blue pruinescence on the thorax between...
This darter has a flattened abdomen appearing rather broad compared to other UK darters. The male is vividly bright scarlet and unmistakeable. The veins on the leading edges of the wings are also...
One of our smallest damselflies, this is one of only two red damselfly species in the UK. The male has an all red abdomen. The female exists in several colour forms varying in the amount of red...
The Southern Damselfly, Coenagrion mercuriale, is one of five members of the genus Coenagrion currently to be found in the British Isles (two others have gone extinct in the last 40 years) and one...
This damselfly is metallic green, becoming bronze as it ages. It has relatively broad, pale ante-humeral stripes on the thorax. At rest, the Southern Emerald spreads its wings at a wide angle to...
A large, inquisitive Hawker usually seen individually. It may fly quite close to investigate observers. The spots on segments S8-10 are joined, unlike other Hawkers. The ante-humeral stripes are...
Like the Common Darter but the mature male is a deeper red. The sides of the thorax are not so well marked. In hand examination of the frons is needed to be sure of this species.
In the male, the ante-humeral stripes are usually broken, like two exclamation marks. S2 has a "wine-goblet" shaped marked, usually joined to the inter-segmental line by its stalk,...
Length: 33-37mmThe White-faced Darter is a small dark dragonfly, with a pale creamy white frons. The wings have small black patches at the base and dark brown pterostigma. The male has a narrow...
Adult males have obvious expanded, white legs which are used in a fluttering display flight in front of females. The male is pale blue with paired black markings on S2-6. S7-10 are more...
