When damselflies mate, it is often a very conspicuous event, easily recognized by the heart-shaped “wheel” formation of the mating couple. The male clasps the female by the back of her head and she curls her abdomen to pick up sperm from secondary genitalia at the base of the male’s abdomen. That’s about as graphic as I dare go in describing the process.
Yesterday I spotted a pair of mating Ebony Jewelwing damselflies (Calopteryx maculata) as I was exploring a stream in Fairfax County, Virginia, the county in which I live. Ebony Jewelwings are immediately identifiable, because they are the only damselflies in our area with dark wings. They can be found at a wide variety of running waters, especially at shaded forest streams, like the one where I found this couple.
Male Ebony Jewelwings have wings that are all black, while females have dark brown wings with conspicuous white pseudostigmas—the male is on the right in this photos. The body of the males is a metallic green with copper highlights—in certain lights, their bodies may look distinctly blue. Females seem to have a bit more color variation, though it is hard to tell their true color because of the reflected light from their shiny bodies.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
Beautiful species. Awesome shot 👏👏😍
Ooh la la! This is a lovely photo. The bright green background really helps the details of the damselflies stand out through contrast.
Thanks, Laura. The environment in which I took this shot was pretty dark, so I had to overexpose the shot to make the damselflies pop. The result was that some of the details of the vegetation were blown out, but that was a more than acceptable compromise to get the contrast that you noted. Considering that each damselfly is only about 2 inches (50mm) in length, I was thrilled to capture details like the tiny hairs on their legs. 🙂
Great image Mike! Enjoyed seeing it!
Very nice, Mike!
One of the most attractive damsel species, in my opinion.
I am feel so happy reading this content and seeing the photos of these creatures. I usually see them in the river and grassy part in the area that is nigh to the watery area. I love them, their size, the way they fly so fast, and I don’t know why I am so fascinated to them.
I found peace and relaxation whenever I see them flying or resting on a grass’ leaf.
I only learned its name here, I just simply call them before as lil dragonflies, but now I know their real name. Thanks a lot to you.