How beautiful they are, those spread-winged damselflies. Metallic emerald in the sun, beautiful.

There are a number of spread-winged damselflies known in the Netherlands: the Small Emerald, the Emerald, the Migrant, the Scarce Emerald and the Willow Emerald Damselfly. Due to the ‘peninsula’ on the side of their thorax and the fact that it does not have a frost blue, it can be identified as the Willow Emerald Damselfly (Chalcolestes viridis). This is the largest of the spread-winged damselflies found in the Netherlands. You can encounter them from mid-July to October.

What is special about this species is that it is the only dragonfly in the Netherlands that lays the eggs in living woody plants (always standing along or in the water). You can see scars on the ‘injected’ stems where the eggs have been inserted. After the winter the eggs hatch and after 2.5 months new Willow Emerald damselflies emerge, first the females, later the males.

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