The banded demoiselle, Calopteryx splendens, Klingavälsån Skåne 2006. Pentax ist D with Sigma APO Macro 180mm F3.5 EX IF HSM.
Almost every year since two thousand and seven, I have dedicated a summer’s day to capturing these exquisite insects on camera. My thesis for my degree in zooecology focused on the banded demoiselle, Calopteryx splendens. In Sweden there is also the beautiful demoiselle, Calopteryx virgo.
The males appear as vibrant flashes of cobalt as they dart across the water, patrolling their territory in search of a mate or hunting smaller prey on the wing.The favoured habitat of these damselflies is typically shallow, meandering water. Here, the females utilise a diverse tapestry of floating and submerged vegetation as a sanctuary for their eggs. The moving water provides a consistently sublime backdrop for these insects—an effect that becomes particularly enchanting when the lens is positioned a mere whisker above the water’s surface.
