The Beautiful Demoiselle Dragonfly (Calopteryx virgo) is a European damselfly. It is often found along fast-flowing waters where it is most at home in the climate. Females lay up to 300 eggs at a time on emergent or floating plants, often on water-crowfoot. The eggs hatch after around 14 days. The larva is stick-like with long legs & develops over a period of 2 years in submerged vegetation, plant debris or roots. The adult males have wings that are metallic blue, metallic blue-green bodies & blue-green eyes. The females have dark brown iridescent wings, a white patch near the tip of the wings (called a pseudopterostigma) & a metallic green body with a bronze tip of the abdomen. The distribution of the Beautiful Demoiselle Dragonfly covers all of Europe with the exception of the southwestern Iberian Peninsula, the Balearic Islands & Iceland. Males are territorial, perching in bankside plants & trees. They chase passing insects, often returning to the same perch. Males can stray well away from water, females live away from water unless egg-laying or seeking a mate. The female adult Demoiselle Dragonfly lays her eggs in the stems of aquatic plants in the water level & below & can stay submerge for up to 90 minutes during this process. The female Demoiselle Dragonfly climbs upside down on the stem of the chosen aquatic plant & stabs the eggs with the egg-laying apparatus (ovipositor) almost vertically into the stems. The adult Demoisell Dragonfly lives for only 2 weeks.