---
title: "Smaragdlibel"
description: "Cordulia aenea — Insecten en spinnen. The downy emerald (Cordulia aenea) is a species of dragonfly."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/nl/animal/downy-emerald
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Smaragdlibel

> Cordulia aenea — Insecten en spinnen. The downy emerald (Cordulia aenea) is a species of dragonfly.

- Scientific name: *Cordulia aenea*
- Category: `insects` (Insecten en spinnen)
- Habitats: `forest` (Bos), `freshwater` (Meren en rivieren)
- iNaturalist observations: 9468
- Wikidata: [Q1394260](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1394260)
- iNaturalist taxon: [61429](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/61429)

## Names

- en: Downy Emerald
- de: Falkenlibelle
- es: Esmeralda bronceada
- fr: Cordulie bronzée
- nl: Smaragdlibel
- pl: Szklarka zielona

## Countries with the most observations

RU (2503), DE (1101), FR (862), DK (854), FI (499), AT (305), NL (287), SE (280), PL (271), LT (247), UA (209), GB (179)

## Summary

The downy emerald (Cordulia aenea) is a species of dragonfly. It is metallic green and bronze in color, and its thorax is coated with fine hairs, hence its name. Like most other emeralds, the downy emerald has bright shiny green eyes. Adults are around 5 cm (2.0 in) in length, and are in flight from May through July each year.
This species lives in woodlands near lakes and ponds; like other dragonflies, it lays eggs in water and its larvae are aquatic. It is distributed throughout most of Europe. Although it has been eliminated from some of its historic native area in Great Britain due to habitat loss, dense populations…

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Downy_emerald

## Photo

![Smaragdlibel](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/downy-emerald/medium.jpg)

Photo: Nicolás Tamargo · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/49606300

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/downy-emerald?lang=nl` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).