Lestes is a genus of damselfly in the family Lestidae.[2] The family hold their wings at about 45 degrees to the body when resting. This distinguishes them from most other species of damselflies which hold the wings along, and parallel to, the body when at rest.

Lestes
female Lestes sponsa
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Odonata
Suborder: Zygoptera
Family: Lestidae
Genus: Lestes
Leach, 1815[1]

The name Lestes comes from the Greek word λῃστής (lēistēs) meaning predator.[3]

Extant Species edit

The genus Lestes includes the following species:[4]

Male Female Scientific name Common Name Distribution
    Lestes alacer Hagen, 1861 Plateau Spreadwing[5] Central America and North America
Lestes alfonsoi González & Novelo, 2001 Central America.
Lestes amicus Martin, 1910 Congo, Tanzania, Angola
Lestes angularis Fraser, 1929 India
Lestes apollinaris Navás, 1934 Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela
Lestes auripennis Fraser, 1955 Madagascar
Lestes auritus Hagen in Selys, 1862 Brazil
    Lestes australis Walker, 1952 Southern Spreadwing[5] North America
    Lestes barbarus (Fabricius, 1798) Southern Emerald Damselfly,[6] Migrant Spreadwing[7] Europe in a band across Spain, France, Italy and Greece to India and Mongolia.
Lestes basidens Belle, 1997 Surinam
Lestes bipupillatus Calvert, 1909 Brazil, Venezuela, Argentina
    Lestes concinnus Hagen in Selys, 1862 Dusky Spreadwing India, Southeast Asia as far as New Caledonia, and northern parts of Australia
    Lestes congener Hagen, 1861 Spotted Spreadwing[5] Canada and in the United States
Lestes curvatus Belle, 1997 Surinam
Lestes debellardi De Marmels, 1992 Surinam
Lestes dichrostigma Calvert, 1909 Brazil
    Lestes disjunctus Selys, 1862 Northern Spreadwing[5] United States and Canada.
Lestes dissimulans Fraser, 1955 Cryptic Spreadwing Angola; Benin; Botswana; Côte d'Ivoire; Chad; Congo-Brazzaville; Democratic Republic of the Congo; Gabon; Gambia; Ghana; Kenya; Liberia; Malawi; Mozambique; Namibia; Nigeria; Republic of South Africa; Senegal; Tanzania; Togo; Uganda; Zambia; Zimbabwe
    Lestes dorothea Fraser, 1924 Forest Spreadwing south and northeast India to Thailand and Malaysia
    Lestes dryas Kirby, 1890 Emerald Spreadwing,[5] Scarce Emerald Damselfly,[6] Robust Spreadwing,[7] Turlough Spreadwing[8] central Europe and Asia from France to the Pacific and across North America
    Lestes elatus Hagen in Selys, 1862 India, Thailand and Sri Lanka.
  Lestes eurinus Say, 1839 Amber-winged Spreadwing[5] Northeastern North America
Lestes falcifer Sjöstedt, 1918 Venezuela
Lestes fernandoi Costa, De Souza & Muzón, 2006 Brazil
  Lestes forcipatus Rambur, 1842 Sweetflag Spreadwing[5] Canada and the United States
  Lestes forficula Rambur, 1842 Rainpool Spreadwing[5] Caribbean Sea, Central America, North America, and South America
Lestes garoensis Lahiri, 1987 India
Lestes helix Ris, 1918 Peru, Venezuela
Lestes henshawi Calvert, 1907 Costa Rica, Ecuador, Colombia, Peru, Venezuela
Lestes ictericus Gerstäcker, 1869 Tawny Spreadwing Benin; Côte d'Ivoire; Democratic Republic of the Congo; Gambia; Kenya; Malawi; Mali; Mozambique; Republic of South Africa; Senegal; South Sudan; Sudan; Uganda; Zambia; Zimbabwe
    Lestes inaequalis Walsh, 1862 Elegant Spreadwing[5] eastern Canada and the United States
Lestes japonicus Selys, 1883 Japan, Korean Peninsula, Eastern Russia
Lestes jerrelli Tennessen, 1997 Ecuador
Lestes jurzitzai Muzon, 1994 Brazil
  Lestes macrostigma (Eversmann, 1836) Dark Emerald Damselfly[9] or Dark Spreadwing[7] Europe into Central Asia and the Middle East
  Lestes malabaricus Fraser, 1929 Sri Lanka, South India and Andaman Islands
Lestes malaisei Schmidt, 1964 Myanmar
Lestes minutus Selys, 1862 Brazil, Trinidad, Venezuela
  Lestes nigriceps Fraser, 1924 Cambodia
    Lestes nodalis Selys, 1891 Northeast India, Thailand and China.
Lestes numidicus Samraoui, Weekers & Dumont, 2003 Algeria
Lestes ochraceus Selys, 1862 Benin; Côte d'Ivoire; Democratic Republic of the Congo; Gabon; Gambia; Ghana; Kenya; Malawi; South Sudan; Tanzania; Uganda; Zambia; Zimbabwe
  Lestes pallidus Rambur, 1842 Angola; Botswana; Cameroon; Cape Verde; Chad; Democratic Republic of the Congo; Ethiopia; Gambia; Ghana; Kenya; Malawi; Mali; Mauritania; Mozambique; Namibia; Niger; Nigeria; Republic of South Africa; Senegal; Somalia; Sudan; Tanzania; Uganda; Zambia; Zimbabwe
    Lestes patricia Fraser, 1924 Western Ghats in India
Lestes paulistus Calvert, 1909 Brazil
Lestes pictus Hagen in Selys, 1862 Brazil
Lestes pinheyi Fraser, 1955 Pinhey's Spreadwing Angola; Botswana; Democratic Republic of the Congo; Gabon; Ghana; Malawi; Namibia; Nigeria; Tanzania; Zambia; Zimbabwe
    Lestes plagiatus (Burmeister, 1839) Highland Spreadwing Angola; Botswana; Democratic Republic of the Congo; Kenya; Malawi; Mozambique; Nigeria; Republic of South Africa; Swaziland; Tanzania; Uganda; Zambia; Zimbabwe
Lestes praecellens Lieftinck, 1937 Malaysia
    Lestes praemorsus Hagen in Selys, 1862 India to China and south to New Guinea
Lestes praevius Lieftinck, 1940 Sabah
Lestes pruinescens Martin, 1910 Madagascar
Lestes quadristriatus Calvert, 1909 Brazil
    Lestes rectangularis Say, 1839 Slender Spreadwing[5] eastern Canada and the United States
Lestes regulatus Martin, 1910 Ethiopia
Lestes scalaris Gundlach, 1888 Caribbean
Lestes secula May, 1993 Panama
  Lestes sigma Calvert, 1901 Chalky Spreadwing[5] Central America and North America
Lestes silvaticus Schmidt, 1951 Madagascar
Lestes simplex Hagen, 1861 Mexico
Lestes simulatrix McLachlan, 1895 Madagascar
Lestes spatula Fraser, 1946 Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay
    Lestes sponsa (Hansemann, 1823) Emerald Damselfly,[6] Common Spreadwing[7][8] central Europe and Asia from Spain to the Pacific
Lestes spumarius Hagen in Selys, 1862 Antillean Spreadwing[5] Caribbean Sea and North America.
Lestes sternalis Navás, 1930 Colombia
  Lestes stultus Hagen, 1861 Black Spreadwing[5] United States
    Lestes temporalis Selys, 1883 Japan
  Lestes tenuatus Rambur, 1842 Blue-striped Spreadwing Central America, Ecuador
Lestes thoracicus Laidlaw, 1920 emerald-striped spreadwing Bangladesh, India, and Thailand
Lestes tikalus Kormoondy, 1959 Guatemala
Lestes trichonus Belle, 1997 Surinam
Lestes tricolor Erichson, 1848 British Guyana
  Lestes tridens McLachlan, 1895 Spotted Spreadwing Angola; Botswana; Côte d'Ivoire; Congo-Brazzaville; Democratic Republic of the Congo; Ethiopia; Gabon; Kenya; Liberia; Mozambique; Namibia; Nigeria; Republic of South Africa; Somalia; Tanzania; Togo; Zambia; Zimbabwe
Lestes umbrinus Selys, 1891 Myanmar
Lestes uncifer Karsch, 1899 Sickle Spreadwing Cameroon; Democratic Republic of the Congo; Gabon; Kenya; Malawi; Mozambique; Republic of South Africa; Somalia; Tanzania; Uganda; Zambia; Zimbabwe
Lestes undulatus Say, 1840 Chile, Uruguay, Argentina, Chile
  Lestes unguiculatus Hagen, 1861 Lyre-tipped Spreadwing[5] United States
Lestes urubamba Kennedy, 1942 Peru
  Lestes vidua Hagen, 1861 Carolina Spreadwing[5] United States
    Lestes vigilax Hagen in Selys, 1862 Swamp Spreadwing[5] United States
    Lestes virens (Charpentier, 1825) Small Emerald Damselfly,[9] Small Spreadwing[7] Algeria; Morocco; Tunisia
    Lestes virgatus (Burmeister, 1839) Smoky Spreadwing Angola; Botswana; Democratic Republic of the Congo; Ethiopia; Kenya; Malawi; Mozambique; Nigeria; Republic of South Africa; Rwanda; Tanzania; Uganda; Zambia; Zimbabwe
    Lestes viridulus Rambur, 1842 Emerald-striped Spreadwing India

Fossils edit

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ Leach, W.E. (1815). "Entomology". In Brewster, D. (ed.). The Edinburgh Encyclopedia. Vol. 9 (reprint 1830 ed.). Edinburgh: William Blackburn. pp. 57–172 [137].
  2. ^ "Genus Lestes Leach, 1815". Australian Faunal Directory. Australian Biological Resources Study. 2012. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
  3. ^ Costantino D’Antonio and Francesca Vegliante. "Derivatio nominis libellularum europæarum" (PDF) (in Italian). Retrieved 3 August 2010.
  4. ^ Paulson, D.; Schorr, M.; Abbott, J.; Bota-Sierra, C.; Deliry, C.; Dijkstra, K.-D.; Lozano, F. (2023). "World Odonata List". OdonataCentral, University of Alabama. Retrieved 14 Mar 2023.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p "North American Odonata". University of Puget Sound. 2009. Retrieved 5 August 2010.
  6. ^ a b c "Checklist of UK Species". British Dragonfly Society. Retrieved 5 August 2010.
  7. ^ a b c d e "Checklist, English common names". DragonflyPix.com. Archived from the original on 4 December 2012. Retrieved 5 August 2010.
  8. ^ a b Brian Nelson; Robert Thompson (2004). The Natural History of Ireland's Dragonflies. Ulster Museum. ISBN 978-0-900761-45-4.
  9. ^ a b Jacques d'Aguilar; Jean-Louis Dommanget; René Préchac (1986). Field Guide to the Dragonflies of Britain, Europe and North Africa. Collins.

External links edit

  •   Media related to Lestes at Wikimedia Commons
  •   Data related to Lestes at Wikispecies