Calopteryx virgo
In 3 days ~60% in a week ~90%
The beautiful demoiselle (Calopteryx virgo) is a species of damselfly belonging to the family Calopterygidae. The species has been found in Europe, North Africa, and Western Asia, and is often found by fast-flowing waters.
Five subspecies have been named, though some authors only accept three subspecies. The subspecies intergrade where their ranges meet. Calopteryx virgo festiva (Brullé, 1832) (eastern Mediterranean, Balkans and Turkey). Wings of males dark throughout.
Calopteryx virgo meridionalis Sélys, 1853 (western Mediterranean and south-west France). Wings of males grading to pale at the base, dark to the tip. Calopteryx virgo padana Conci, 1956 (northern Italy); not accepted by Smallshire et al.
Calopteryx virgo virgo (Linnaeus, 1758) (northern and central Europe). Wings of males grading to pale at both tip and base. Females can lay up to 300 eggs at a time on floating plants, such as water-crowfoot. Similar to the banded demoiselle, they often submerge underwater to do so, and the eggs hatch around 14 days later. The larvae are stick-shaped... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Plitvice Lakes National Park | 🇭🇷 Croatia | |
| 2 | Picos de Europa National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 3 | Gauja National Park | 🇱🇻 Latvia | |
| 4 | Cévennes National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 5 | Pyrénées National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 6 | Aigüestortes National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 7 | Sierra de Guadarrama National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 8 | Triglav National Park | 🇸🇮 Slovenia | |
| 9 | Białowieża National Park | 🇵🇱 Poland | |
| 10 | Bavarian Forest National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 11 | Snowdonia National Park | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom |
Possible
About 30% of wildlife watchers report a Beautiful Demoiselle sighting in Picos de Europa National Park on a given day, based on 23 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 27th most-seen of the 118 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 60%, and over a week to about 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
July
In that month about 40% of wildlife watchers report a Beautiful Demoiselle in Picos de Europa National Park on a given day, against under 5% in February–June and September–November, the lowest months. That is one of Picos de Europa National Park's driest months, with about 65 mm of rain against 220 mm in November.
Between noon and 3 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Beautiful Demoiselle sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
2nd of 11
Of the 11 parks where we can rate Beautiful Demoiselle sightings, Picos de Europa National Park ranks 2nd at about 30%. The best odds are in Plitvice Lakes National Park (Croatia, about 80%). All parks ranked.
Same order: Odonata
The closest relatives of the Beautiful Demoiselle that you can see in Picos de Europa National Park (order Odonata, Dragonflies and Damselflies) are Common Blue Damselfly (about 20%) and Golden-Ringed Dragonfly (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Beautiful Demoiselle is recorded against all the insects logged in Picos de Europa National Park (23 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
