Meadow damselfly (Coenagrion puella) is one of the most common damselflies in a large part of Europe. This slender damselfly from the family Coenagrionidae measures 33 to 35 mm in length, and its wingspan is about 4 cm.
The male is characteristically colored for damselflies; its sky-blue body is adorned with a black pattern. In appearance our damselflies look very similar. They differ by the black markings on the second abdominal segment, which in the meadow damselfly are in the shape of the letter U.
The coloration of females is variable; they can be light green or light blue, always with a black pattern. In appearance they are extremely similar to the females of other damselfly species. Of these, they can be reliably distinguished by the shape of the rear edge of the pronotum of the first thoracic segment — the segment from which the front pair of legs arises.
The meadow damselfly is certainly the most common of all members of the genus here. It occurs in very different types of water bodies. It prefers standing waters with densely overgrown aquatic vegetation, but is also common on slowly flowing waters.
Meadow damselflies fly from April to September.
