Bug FAQRiver Jewelwing
Calopteryx aequabilis · Order: Odonata · Family: Calopterygidae
Males have a metallic blue-green body with black tips on their wings, while females are dull brown with smoky wings that show white spots near the tips. They are found along small to moderate forest streams from British Columbia across to Newfoundland and down into the northern United States.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Males are metallic blue-green with black wing tips. Females are dull brown, have smoky wing tips and white spots near the tips.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
They live beside small to moderate forest streams.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
Their range extends from British Columbia to Newfoundland and south into most of the northern United States.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 30 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Oregon, Minnesota, Michigan, Maine, Washington, Wisconsin, Vermont, New York.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Status: native in North America; native in Canada; native in United States. Source: iNaturalist
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
More photos
Questions people ask
How can I tell a male River Jewelwing from a female?
Males are metallic blue-green with black wing tips, while females are dull brown with smoky wings that have white spots near the tips.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Calopterygidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calopteryx_aequabilis
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-22 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.