Common Winter Damsel

The inconspicuously brownish-bronze coloured Common Winter Damsel (Sympecma fusca) is excellently camouflaged and survives the winter months in cold rigidity on plant stems.

Photo © Andreas Eichler, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia

The graceful Common Winter Damsels are very tough

Dragonflies in the snow? The winter dragonflies show the way. They spend the cold season in cold rigidity outdoors and use a kind of “antifreeze” to prevent freezing at sub-zero temperatures. They can also get snowed in at any time…
The Common Winter Damsel is, besides the much rarer Siberian winter dragonfly, the only dragonfly species in Europe that does not hibernate as an egg or larva. They often find their hibernation places far away from waters near sunny forest edges or in borders and hedges. On beautiful winter days, the almost 4 cm long and very filigree little animals can even become active for a short time and fly around. At the latest in March or April, the hibernating winter dragonflies arrive at a reproductive-water and begin with the mating.