Male Ebony Jewelwing Damselfly. Calopteryx maculata. Insect. Photograph taken and design created by the author. Copyright © 2025 Now I Wonder. All rights reserved.

Wild Facts About The Ebony Jewelwing Damselfly

ByChristine Wild Animals

Wild Facts About The Ebony Jewelwing Damselfly

Common Name(s)

Ebony Jewelwing Damselfly

Scientific Name

Calopteryx maculata

Animal Type
  • Phylum: Arthropoda (arthropods)
  • Class: Insecta (insects)
  • Order: Odonata (Dragonflies and damselflies)
  • Family: Calopterygidae (Broad-winged Damselflies)

Size
  • 1.5 – 2.2 inches (39 – 57 mm) (Paulson 2011)
  • One of the largest and heaviest damselfly species in the eastern United States

Appearance

General Appearance

  • Very long, slim, needle-like body
  • Dark eyes
  • Long, thin, dark wings
  • Wings are broad and lack the narrow base (called the petiole) seen in other damselfly families
  • Extremely long, spindly legs

Appearance Of Males

  • Solid, bright metallic blue or green bodies
  • Black eyes
  • Solid matte black wings
Male Ebony Jewelwing Damselfly. Calopteryx maculata. Insect. Photograph taken and design created by the author. Copyright © 2025 Now I Wonder. All rights reserved.
Male Ebony Jewelwing Damselfly Calopteryx maculata Insect Photograph taken and design created by the author Copyright © 2025 Now I Wonder All rights reserved
Male Ebony Jewelwing Damselfly. Calopteryx maculata. Insect. Photograph taken and design created by the author. Copyright © 2025 Now I Wonder. All rights reserved.
Male Ebony Jewelwing Damselfly Calopteryx maculata Insect Photograph taken and design created by the author Copyright © 2025 Now I Wonder All rights reserved

Appearance Of Females

  • Pale violet to dark gray bodies
  • Body coloration is dull and matte compared to bright and metallic males
  • Black wings with small white pterostigma (patch near the end of the wings)
  • Black eyes
Female Ebony Jewelwing Damselfly. Calopteryx maculata. Insect. Photograph taken and design created by the author. Copyright © 2025 Now I Wonder. All rights reserved.
Female Ebony Jewelwing Damselfly Calopteryx maculata Insect Photograph taken and design created by the author Copyright © 2025 Now I Wonder All rights reserved
Female Ebony Jewelwing Damselfly. Calopteryx maculata. Insect. Photograph taken and design created by the author. Copyright © 2025 Now I Wonder. All rights reserved.
Female Ebony Jewelwing Damselfly Calopteryx maculata Insect Photograph taken and design created by the author Copyright © 2025 Now I Wonder All rights reserved

Appearance Of Juveniles

  • Larval Ebony Jewelwing Damselflies live underwater and look drastically different from adults:
    • Narrow bodies
    • Three broad, paddle-shaped tails extend from the tips of their abdomens (actually gills)
    • Lack gills along sides or beneath the abdomen
    • Large eyes
    • Large, extendable, scoop-like lower lip covers most of the bottom of their heads
    • Three pairs of long, segmented legs tipped with two claws each
    • Body length: 0.25 – 2.5 inches (6.4 – 63.5 mm)
  • Young adults look similar to mature adults except for:
    • Brown eyes rather than black
    • Slightly paler dark wings

Habitat
  • Slow-moving streams in forests.
  • Always perched on or flying near stream-side vegetation.
  • Often returns to the same perch multiple times.

Diet
  • Insectivore
  • Eats tiny flying insects.

Active Time
  • Diurnal (day-active)
Male Ebony Jewelwing Damselfly. Calopteryx maculata. Insect. Photograph taken and design created by the author. Copyright © 2025 Now I Wonder. All rights reserved.
Male Ebony Jewelwing Damselfly Calopteryx maculata Insect Photograph taken and design created by the author Copyright © 2025 Now I Wonder All rights reserved

Range
  • Throughout the eastern United States
  • All of Maine south to central Florida
  • Mostly absent from south Florida

Season(s)

Flight Season

  • Adults fly between May and October in most of the eastern United States
  • Slightly delayed in the northernmost portions of its range
  • Slightly extended in the southernmost portions of its range

Predators and Threats

Natural Predators

Threats

  • Habitat loss, especially pollution that contaminates their woodland streams.
  • Drought

Physical Fitness Matters
  • Male Ebony Jewelwing damselflies are territorial and will defend a chosen territory for several days.
    • Rival males engage in “flights of attrition”, where they chase each other around in circles. The males fly in close proximity and at high speed until one of the males quits the contest by breaking away from the circling flight or landing (Paulson 2011).

Splish Splash
  • Female Ebony Jewelwing damselflies lay their eggs on underwater plants and sometimes even submerge their entire bodies to do so (Abbott 2011).
Female Ebony Jewelwing Damselfly. Calopteryx maculata. Insect. Photograph taken and design created by the author. Copyright © 2025 Now I Wonder. All rights reserved.
Female Ebony Jewelwing Damselfly Calopteryx maculata Insect Photograph taken and design created by the author Copyright © 2025 Now I Wonder All rights reserved

Unusual Sunworshipers
  • Like all insects, the body temperature of Ebony Jewelwing damselflies rely on ambient temperatures; the cooler the air, the cooler the damselflies.
  • Both sexes of Ebony Jewelwing damselflies bask in the sun to warm themselves and their dark wings help them do so.
  • In a study that researched the impact of wing color on damselfly body temperatures, researchers discovered that female Ebony Jewelwing damselflies were consistently 1.5 degrees Celsius hotter than males throughout the day, possibly due to their thicker abdomens (Schreiner, Duffy, and Brown 2020, https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.6864).
  • Ebony Jewelwing damselflies belong to the only family of damselflies that obelisk (family Calopterygidae).
    • Obelisking means they point their abdomens towards the sun when the weather is hot.

Ebony Jewelwing Damselfly Photo Gallery

Male Ebony Jewelwing Damselfly Images

Female Ebony Jewelwing Damselfly Images

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Christine
Christine is the creator and author of NowIWonder.com, a website dedicated to the animals and plants that share our world, and the science that helps us understand them. Inspired by lifelong exploration and learning, Christine loves to share her knowledge with others who want to connect with wild faces and wild spaces.
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