Pyrrhosoma nymphula - Large Red Damsel

Phylum: Arthropoda - Class: Insecta - Order: Odonata - Family: Coenagrionidae

Large red damselfly

The Large Red Damsel is the first of the common damselflies to hatch. It is found on lakes and rivers and usually appears before the end of April, and hatches continue throughout the summer.

Large red damselflies

These brilliant insects can be seen on most ponds and canals in springtime and early summer.

Paired large red damsels during egg laying

In the picture above, the female (larger than the male and with a wingspan of up to 50mm and a more stout body) is laying eggs, assisted by her partner. Although trout are often seen leaping at the paired adults flying across the water, it is usually best for anglers to concentrate on imitations of the nymph of this insect.

Adult damselfly emerging from nymphal shuck
Above: An adult Large Red Damselfly emerging from its nymphal shuck.

Excited at the prospect of flyfishing? So are we, and we're pretty sure you would find the Winding River Mystery trilogy of action-packed thrillers gripping reading too. Dead Drift, Dead Cert, and Dead End are Pat O'Reilly's latest river-and-flyfishing based novels, and now they are available in ebook format. Full details on our website here...

Buy each volume in ebook format for only £2.47 on Amazon... Paperbacks also available on Amazon at £5.45 each. All proceeds go towards keeping the First Nature website online.


Please Help Us: If you have found this information interesting and useful, please consider helping to keep First Nature online by making a small donation towards the web hosting and internet costs.

Any donations over and above the essential running costs will help support the conservation work of Plantlife, the Rivers Trust and charitable botanic gardens - as do author royalties and publisher proceeds from books by Pat and Sue.