The brilliant emerald, Somatochlora metallica, is a middle-sized species of dragonfly.

It is the largest and greenest of the Somatochlora species; 50–55 millimetres (2.0–2.2 in) long.

[4] S. metallica is found across most of northern Eurasia where it is the commonest of its genus.

[4] In Great Britain, it is locally common in south east England and has a very restricted population in Scotland.

[5] The East Asian Somatochlora vera, scientifically described in 1914 by Aleksandr Bartenev based on a specimen from Ussuri, Siberia[6] (and later also reported in northern China[7]), is typically treated as part of S. metallica,[3][7] but has also been considered a synonym of the East Asian S.