Common winter damselfly

The Common winter damselfly is a dull pale brown insect with darker brown stripes along the thorax and bomb shaped markings on the upper abdomen, lacking the bright blue or red seen in most European damselflies. Its plain coloring and drab tone make it easy to overlook among dry grass stems.

It breeds around still, well vegetated water such as ponds and marshes with floating dead reeds, but after emerging it moves away from water to spend winter resting on dry plant stems in open grassland and heath. It is one of only two European damselfly species that survive the cold season as adults, becoming active again in spring.