The ebony jewelwing (''Calopteryx maculata'') is a species of broad-winged

damselfly Damselflies are flying insects of the suborder Zygoptera in the order Odonata. They are similar to dragonflies, which constitute the other odonatan suborder, Anisoptera, but are smaller and have slimmer bodies. Most species fold the wings along ...

. One of about 150 species of

Calopterygidae The Calopterygidae are a family of damselflies, in the suborder Zygoptera. They are commonly known as the broad-winged damselflies, demoiselles, or jewelwings. These rather large damselflies have wingspans of 50–80 mm (compared to about 44 ...

, it is found in the eastern U.S. and southeastern

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, ranging west to the Great Plains. Other common names include black-winged damselfly.NatureServe. 2015
''Calopteryx maculata''.
NatureServe Explorer. Version 7.1. Accessed: January 21, 2016.

Description

It is between 39–57 mm (1.5–2.2 in). The male has a metallic blue-green body and black wings. The female is duller brown with smoky wings that have white spots near the tips ( pseudopterostigmata). The naiad is pale brown with darker markings.

Habitat

It lives near wooded streams and rivers, but it can move far from water.

Breeding

Ebony jewelwings mate in the summer. The male holds the female behind her head with his tail or abdomen. The female lays eggs in the soft stems of aquatic plants. The naiad eats small aquatic insects. When the naiad is fully grown, it crawls out of the water and molts., Study of Northern Virginia Ecology. Fairfax County Public Schools.

Flight season

This damselfly species can be seen almost year-round in some regions.Ebony Jewelwing.
The Dragonflies and Damselflies of New Jersey.

Ecology

Prey of this species includes the tiger mosquito, giant willow aphid, fungus gnats,

crane flies Crane fly is a common name referring to any member of the insect family Tipulidae. Cylindrotominae, Limoniinae, and Pediciinae have been ranked as subfamilies of Tipulidae by most authors, though occasionally elevated to family rank. In the most ...

, large diving beetles, eastern dobsonfly, water fleas,

green darner The green darner or common green darner (''Anax junius''), after its resemblance to a darning needle, is a species of dragonfly in the family Aeshnidae. One of the most common and abundant species throughout North America, it also ranges south ...

, aquatic oligochaetes,

caddisflies The caddisflies, or order Trichoptera, are a group of insects with aquatic larvae and terrestrial adults. There are approximately 14,500 described species, most of which can be divided into the suborders Integripalpia and Annulipalpia on the ...

, rotifers, copepods,

amphipods Amphipoda is an order of malacostracan crustaceans with no carapace and generally with laterally compressed bodies. Amphipods range in size from and are mostly detritivores or scavengers. There are more than 9,900 amphipod species so far describ ...

, dogwood borer, six-spotted tiger beetle, freshwater triclads, and green hydra. Predators of this damselfly include birds such as the

great crested flycatcher The great crested flycatcher (''Myiarchus crinitus'') is a large insect-eating bird of the tyrant flycatcher family. It is the most widespread member of the genus ''Myiarchus'' in North America, and is found over most of the eastern and mid-west ...

, American robin, mallard,

red-winged blackbird The red-winged blackbird (''Agelaius phoeniceus'') is a passerine bird of the family Icteridae found in most of North America and much of Central America. It breeds from Alaska and Newfoundland south to Florida, the Gulf of Mexico, Mexico, and G ...

, and blue jay, reptiles and amphibians such as the

eastern painted turtle The painted turtle (''Chrysemys picta'') is the most widespread native turtle of North America. It lives in slow-moving fresh waters, from southern Canada to northern Mexico, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific. They have been shown to prefer l ...

, common snapping turtle, and

southern leopard frog ''Lithobates sphenocephalus'' or ''Rana sphenocephala'', commonly known as the southern leopard frog, is a medium-sized anuran in the family Ranidae (the true frogs). It is native to eastern North America from Kansas to New York to Florida. It is ...

, fish such as the bluegill,

largemouth bass The largemouth bass (''Micropterus salmoides'') is a carnivorous freshwater gamefish in the Centrarchidae ( sunfish) family, a species of black bass native to the eastern and central United States, southeastern Canada and northern Mexico, bu ...

yellow perch The yellow perch (''Perca flavescens''), commonly referred to as perch, striped perch, American perch, American river perch or preacher is a freshwater perciform fish native to much of North America. The yellow perch was described in 1814 by Sam ...

creek chub ''Semotilus'' is the genus of creek chubs, ray-finned fish in the family Cyprinidae. The term "creek chub" is sometimes used for individual species, particularly the common creek chub, ''S. atromaculatus''. The creek chub species of minnows can ...

, channel catfish, common carp, and

northern hogsucker The northern hogsucker (''Hypentelium nigricans'') is a freshwater ray-finned fish belonging to the family Catostomidae, the suckers. It is native to the United States and Canada where it is found in streams and rivers. It prefers clear, fast-f ...

, mammals such as the

big brown bat The big brown bat (''Eptesicus fuscus'') is a species of vesper bat distributed widely throughout North America, the Caribbean, and the northern portion of South America. It was first described as a species in 1796. Compared to other microbat ...

, and insects such as the

, large diving beetles, eastern dobsonfly, and common water strider. The damselfly shelters among various plants and algaes in its habitat, including green algae, yellow water lily,

hydrilla ''Hydrilla'' (waterthyme) is a genus of aquatic plant, usually treated as containing just one species, ''Hydrilla verticillata'', though some botanists divide it into several species. It is native to the cool and warm waters of the Old World in A ...

, lizard's tail, pickerelweed,

common cattail ''Typha latifolia'' (broadleaf cattail, bulrush, common bulrush, common cattail, cat-o'-nine-tails, great reedmace, cooper's reed, cumbungi) is a perennial herbaceous plant in the genus '' Typha''. It is found as a native plant species in North a ...

, upright sedge, common bladderwort,

common duckweed ''Lemna minor'', the common duckweed or lesser duckweed, is a species of aquatic freshwater plant in the subfamily Lemnoideae of the arum family Araceae. ''L. minor'' is used as animal fodder, bioremediator, for wastewater nutrient recovery, and ...

, black willow, orange jewelweed, spotted Joe-pye weed, poison ivy,

wild grape Wild grape may refer to: * ''Vitis'' species; specially Vitis vinifera, ''Vitis vinifera'' subsp. ''sylvestris'' (the wild ancestor of ''Vitis vinifera''), ''Vitis californica'' (California wild grape), ''Vitis girdiana'' (desert wild grape), and ' ...

sassafras ''Sassafras'' is a genus of three extant and one extinct species of deciduous trees in the family Lauraceae, native to eastern North America and eastern Asia.Wolfe, Jack A. & Wehr, Wesley C. 1987. The sassafras is an ornamental tree. "Middle ...

, common greenbrier, and buttonbush.

Gallery

Ebony Jewelwing, male and female.jpg, Male & female Calopteryx maculata on Palmetto.JPG, On palmetto at Francis Beidler Forest Calopteryx maculata mating (crop).jpg, Mating Ebony Jewelwing, eye, md, pg County 2013-06-11-18.02.19 ZS PMax (9022145050).jpg, Eyes

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q147476 Calopterygidae Odonata of North America Insects of Canada Insects of the United States Insects described in 1805