Tuesday, June 29, 2004
Female Banded Demoiselle - or is it?
I learned recently about a colony of Beautiful Demoiselles (Calopteryx virgo) at Ferry Meadows, Peterborough. This species' usual range is well away from here so went for a look on 29 June. I only saw Banded Demoiselles (C. splendens) for certain but this female was very obliging and appeared to have very dusky wings. Several people have commented that it looks fine for C. virgo but I think I will wait to see a male.
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3 comments:
This looks very like the Banded Demoiselle I photographed at Houghton Mill near Huntingdon the other week. I know hardly anything about IDing them, though it seems we're well out of the usual range here.
Click here to see my pic.
Its a Banded Dem. Most female Banded Dems are darker winged than the field guides suggest. The reason the wings look so dark in your photo is due to looking at one wing with the other three folded up behind it producing a darker effect. Looking at (through) a single wing would appear paler.
My thoughts exactly. I shall be back there for another look soon.
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