Red-eyed Damselfly
Encyclopedia
Red-eyed Damselfly Erythromma najas is a member of the damselfly
Damselfly
Damselflies are insects in the order Odonata. Damselflies are similar to dragonflies, but the adults can be distinguished by the fact that the wings of most damselflies are held along, and parallel to, the body when at rest...

 family Coenagrionidae
Coenagrionidae
The insect family Coenagrionidae is found in the order Odonata and the suborder Zygoptera. The Zygoptera are the damselflies, which although less known than the dragonflies, are no less common. There are more than 1100 species in this family, making it the largest damselfly family...

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Appearance

The species is a small damselfly, 35 millimetres (1.4 in) long, predominantly black with iridescent blue markings. The male resembles blue-tailed damselflies (Ischnura
Ischnura
Ischnura is a genus of damselflies known as forktails in the family Coenagrionidae. It includes the following species:...

species) but is distinguished by its large, spaced eyes that are a deep red. It is very similar to the Small Red-eyed Damselfly
Small Red-eyed Damselfly
The Small Red-eyed Damselfly Erythromma viridulum is a member of the damselfly family Coenagrionidae. It is very similar to the Red-eyed Damselfly.-Appearance:...

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Behaviour

Males typically spent much of their time perched the leaves of floating vegetation such as water lilies
Nymphaeaceae
Nymphaeaceae is a family of flowering plants. Members of this family are commonly called water lilies and live in freshwater areas in temperate and tropical climates around the world. The family contains eight genera. There are about 70 species of water lilies around the world. The genus...

 or mats of algae
Algae
Algae are a large and diverse group of simple, typically autotrophic organisms, ranging from unicellular to multicellular forms, such as the giant kelps that grow to 65 meters in length. They are photosynthetic like plants, and "simple" because their tissues are not organized into the many...

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