Ebony Jewelwing (Calopteryx maculata): Damsel in Distress

Note that the leading edge of the wings are metallic green like
the body of the ebony jewelwing. This one shows
evidence of injury to its wings, abdomen and legs.
Photo by Brad Sylvester, copyright 2012. Do not copy.

If you're a bug, life is precarious, even if you are a top predator in the insect world. Dragonflies and damselflies, for example, are nature's version of the Predator Drone. These agile and fast flyers criss-cross their hunting grounds looking for other flying insects. When they find one, they grab it out of the air and eat it.

Unfortunately, when you're a bug, there's always something bigger and badder than you. That appears to be the case for the Ebony Jewelwing I found in my yard today. This distinctive damselfly appeared to have seen better days. It was missing a leg, had an unnatural bend in its abdomen, and its rear wings appeared to be skewed to one side.

Of course, you'll remember how to differentiate damselflies and dragonflies from one another, right?

Top view of ebony jewelwing (Calopteryx maculata).
Photo by Brad Sylvester, copyright 2012. Do not copy.

Perhaps it had a near miss with a bird or a larger dragonfly, both of which will eat damselflies like this one. Although still alive and able to stand, its wings seemed incapable of mustering a flight of more than two inches at a time. Granted, ebony jewelwings are not the strongest flyers of the damselfly world, but they can certainly do better than that if not injured. They have a distinctive flight pattern among odonatae. They fly more like butterflies than the high speed, precise flight of most dragonflies and damselflies.

According to Dennis Paulson's field guide "Dragonflies and Damselflies of the East, " ebony jewelwings live along slow-moving forest streams with lots of leafy, green plants around. That is exactly the type of habitat in which I found this specimen. There is a seasonal brook that runs through my back yard along the forest edge. It's banks are covered with ferns, raspberry plants, and other small to mid-sized plants. This is absolutely ideal for the ebony jewelwing. Even so, this is the first specimen I have ever seen in my yard (or anywhere else for that matter.

Identifying the Ebony Jewelwing Species (Calopteryx maculata)

To identify the species of this particular damselfly in New England. The wings are the main clue. This is the only damselfly in this range that has solid black wings. In the Southeast, the smoky rubyspot (Hetaerina titia) also has black wings, but does not have the metallic green-colored body of the ebony jewelwing.

Identifying the Sex and Age of Ebony Jewelwing (Calopteryx maculata)

Ebony Jewelwing caudal appendage detail
Damselflies and Dragonflies can often be precisely identified
and sexed by examining details of the caudal appendage.
Photo by Brad Sylvester, copyright 2012. Do not copy.

The female of this species has a little white dot on the outer wings near the end of the wing at the top. In fact the Latin species name Calopteryx maculata means beautiful spotted wing. This specimen does not have that dot, so we can easily determine that it is a male without a detailed inspection of the caudal appendage. Females would also tend to be less brightly colored through the abdomen. Immature individuals, according to Paulson would have paler wings and the eyes would be a lighter brown color. This leads us to the conclusion that this one is a mature adult.

Of all the odonatae, the ebony jewelwing, in my opinion is the most strikingly beautiful in appearance. I'm hoping the presence of this one in my yard, means that there are more here this year and that they'll be laying eggs in the stream bed.

Injured ebony jewelwing. Ordinarily the abdomen would be
straight without the bend shown here.
Photo by Brad Sylvester, copyright 2012. Do not copy.

Quick facts about the ebony jewelwing (Calopteryx maculata):

When is it here? The ebony jewelwing is here year-round, but adults are typically found only from June through September, according to Paulson.

Habitat: Ebony jewelwings live near forest streams with abundant vegetation.

What do Ebony Jewelwings eat? Their diet consists of other insects both in adult and nymphal forms according to bugguide.net.

Life Cycle: Adults live about 2-3 weeks with females laying as many as 1700 eggs during that span. Nymphs grow underwater, climbing out of the water before they undergo their last metamorphosis to become adults.

Lifespan: Ebony Jewelwings live about one year.

Range: Eastern U.S. and Canada from Florida to about Nova Scotia and west to about Kansas.

IUCN Red List Status: Not assessed. The other references I checked (noted above), say that the ebony jewelwing is common throughout its range. Personally, though, I have never seen another one despite frequenting New England forests all my life.

Where does it go in winter? I could not determine whether the ebony jewelwing overwinters in the egg or as a nymph from available sources. It certainly overwinters underwater, and my guess would be that the eggs hatch before winter and the nymph overwinters under rocks at the bottom of the stream bed, but I have no documentation to support that guess.

Behavior Notes: Paulson says that males defend their territory from other males of the species in an attempt to keep all the females there for itself. Perhaps the injured specimen I found in my yard, was driven out of another male's territory and suffered its injuries in the scuffle. I'm not sure if they actually fight or use display and aerial harassment to defend the territory though.

The feet of the damselfly or dragonfly are well designed
to snatch flying insects from the air and hang onto them
until they can be eaten.
Photo by Brad Sylvester, copyright 2012. Do not copy.

Taxonomy of Calopteryx maculata:

Kingdom: Animalia (animals)
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta (insects)
Order: Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies)
     Sub-order: Zygoptera (damselflies)
Family: Calopterygidae
Genus: Calopteryx (jewelwings)
Species: Calopteryx maculata