Common Spreadwing

• Its genus, Lestes, comes from the Greek lestes, thief or pirate.
• Unlike most damselflies, it holds its wings partly open when perched, a characteristic trait of the whole family Lestidae.
• In central and northern Europe it is the commonest lestid, but on the Iberian Peninsula it is scarce.
• It perches with its wings half-open, at an angle, something no other European damselfly does: the rest close them over the back, and the true dragonflies hold them outstretched. Hence the family's name, the spreadwings.
• Its eggs withstand drying out: it lays them inside rush stems above the waterline, and there they spend the winter until the pond fills again.
• That lets it breed in temporary ponds that dry up every summer, a habitat closed to most odonates.
• Its larval development is extremely fast, barely two or three months, so as to finish before the water disappears.
• Its colour is metallic green with bronze glints, and with maturity the males develop bluish pruinescence at the tip of the abdomen.

Skeleton type

Invertebrate - chitin exoskeleton (insect)

Habitat & environment

Waters with emergent vegetation. On the Iberian Peninsula it is more abundant in the northern third, although it also occurs in the centre of the peninsula

Gestation / incubation

The eggs overwinter and the nymphs then develop over 2-3 months

Litter / clutch size

The female lays accompanied by the male, placing the eggs on plants that emerge from the water

Sources consulted: IUCN Red List (Kalkman 2014); Naturaleza Para Todos; Animalandia (Comunidad de Madrid); Waste Magazine (Guía de odonatos ibéricos)

Best time: Warm summer days, flitting near the water