Lestes dryas
| Lestes dryas | |
|---|---|
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Odonata |
| Suborder: | Zygoptera |
| Family: | Lestidae |
| Genus: | Lestes |
| Species: | L. dryas |
| Binomial name | |
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Lestes dryas Kirby, 1890 |
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Lestes dryas is a species of damselfly in the family Lestidae, the spreadwings. Its common names include emerald spreadwing, scarce emerald damselfly and robust spreadwing. An alternate name in Ireland is the turlough spreadwing.
This species is native to the Holarctic, especially northern parts of Eurasia and North America. It is relictual in North Africa.
L. dryas can tolerate extreme conditions that few other dragonflies can survive.
This damselfly is about 35 to 42 millimeters long, the generally longer than the females. The males' wingspan is about 45 millimeters and the females' about 47 millimeters.
Like the other members of the Lestes genus both sexes of L. dryas have largely metallic green bodies with a bronze iridescence. They usually rest with their wings half spread. L.dryas is very similar in appearance to the emerald damselfly Lestes sponsa and care must be taken to tell the two species apart.
The male has blue eyes. Powder blue pruinescence develops on the front and end of the abdomen, the pronotum and the sides of the thorax. However all Lestes are very similar in appearance and it is the shape and colour of the anal appendage that is characteristic. The anal appendages in L. dryas and L. sponsa are black whilst in the other European Lestes they are white or light coloured. L. dryas and L. sponsa have slightly different shaped appendages as show in the photographs.
The female has a more robust abdomen than the male. She has no blue colouration on her body and has brown to green eyes. Females have beige underparts.
L. dryas is found in a band around the world from 40° north to 60° north across central Europe and Asia from France to the Pacific and across North America. L. dryas is the only Lestes that occurs in Europe and in North America. Around the Mediterranean it is found at altitude. It is found in still, shallow water in well vegetated ditches, ponds, bogs and lakes. It can be found near the coast in slightly brackish water. It is widespread in Europe but is never as common as L. sponsa.
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Wikipedia