The beautiful demoiselle (Calopteryx virgo) is a species of damselfly in the family Calopterygidae. It is found in Europe, North Africa, and Western Asia. It is often found along fast-flowing waters where it is most at home. Subspecies Subspecies include: Calopteryx virgo britannica Conci, 1952 Calopteryx virgo festiva (Brullé, 1832) (eastern Mediterranean) Calopteryx virgo meridionalis Sélys, 1853 (western Mediterranean and south-west France) Calopteryx virgo padana Conci, 1956 (northern Italy) Calopteryx virgo virgo (Linnaeus, 1758) Description Eggs and larvae Females lay up to 300 eggs at a time on emergent or floating plants, often on water-crowfoot. Like the banded demoiselle, they often submerge to do so. The eggs hatch after around 14 days. Again, like the banded demoiselle, the larvae are stick-like with long legs and develop over a period of two years in submerged vegetation, plant debris or roots. They usually overwinter in mud or slime. The larvae of the beautiful demoiselle develop over 10 to 12 stages, each of which takes place between a molt. The body length is variable and highly dependent on environmental conditions. The final stage (F-0-stage) larvae are 3.5 to 4.6 millimeters and weigh about 4 milligrams, slightly below the banded demoiselle. Apart from the larvae of the demoiselles are difficult to distinguish from each other, the apparent differences lie mainly in the bristles and the severity of the tracheal gills on their abdomen. Compared to other damselflies demoiselles larvae fall immediately on the other hand, due to their much shorter mean gill lamella. The body of the larvae shows only a relatively small adjustment to the fast-flowing waters of their habitat. The body is not flattened but very slim and turning around, the legs are long and have its end with strong claws, with which it can be stated in the vegetation. Because they reside within the water body, but mainly in the quieter areas, the danger of being swept with the flow, is relatively low. If this happens, they clearly its long body and legs stretched as far as possible to get in touch with the vegetation or the substrate to come. Adult Calopteryx virgo can reach a body length of , with a hindwing length of . These large, dark damselflies have small hemispherical eyes located laterally on the head, two pairs of wings similar in shape and a slender abdomen. The basal area of the wings is transparent, otherwise wings are