Damselfly, Northants, 19/7/17 (1 Viewer)

Hi, another request for I.D help. I saw this teneral damselfly at a pond at Weldon Northants. It was a large and rather robust specimen and clearly larger than Common Blue. I estimated it's length to be two to two and a half inches long, the feather that it's sitting on is a Mallard secondary if that helps to gauge size. The head shape appears to be wrong for Banded Demoiselle and I was leaning towards an emerald or perhaps a Red-eyed.

James

The damselfly is a Small Red-eyed, the exuvial case showing in the picture is the clue that should have tipped me off. This is the only species that emerges like this from the water, I clearly misjudged the size which given that there were a few adults about is a bit embarrassing. Still at the rate I'm learning I should be an expert by 2027!

James.