It’s been a very disappointing year for those wishing to see dragonflies so far, and now we have the summer species out and about. Most damselflies emerge in spring, but the emerald damselfly emerges about now and is the only damselfly you’ll encounter here in August. As it is late in emerging, the eggs overwinter and hatch the following spring.
Emerald damselflies are easily told apart from other damselflies as when at rest, they hold their wings in a shallow V, not along their backs as other damselflies do.
They also have interesting faces. The compound eyes look like someone has taken one eye and cut it in half, placing each half on either side of the head. Look closely and you’ll see the 3 ocelli, or simple eyes on the top centre of the head, arranged in a triangle in little pits. These simple eyes can only really differentiate between light and dark, which is useful for a flying insect, as if it suddenly goes dark above you, you know you’re upside down.