Beautiful demoiselles are damsel flies which can be common near water in the spring. Because they are relatively weak fliers, they can be pictured resting on vegetation, often in bright light.
Two individuals are pictured in this series of pictures. Both are males. The males have a bright shiny turquoise or electric blue body, with wings which can vary in colour from pale brown to a brown so dark it approaches black; or wings similar in colour to the body. Females have a green body.
These two were both spending most of their time warming up shortly after they first appeared for the day, just before noon on one of the hot days at the end of May. They were in the woods near the river Blythe in the Marsh Lane LNR, Hampton in Arden.
