Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 10, 2026

Lestes

Lestes is a genus of damselfly in the family Lestidae. 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.

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Jun 10, 2026
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Lestes
female Lestes sponsa
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Clade: Pancrustacea
Class: Insecta
Order: Odonata
Suborder: Zygoptera
Family: Lestidae
Genus: Lestes
Leach, 18151

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.

Etymology

The name Lestes comes from the Greek word λῃστής (lēistēs) meaning thief, referring to the predatory behaviour of species in this genus.34

Extant Species

The genus Lestes includes the following species:5

Male Female Scientific name Common name Distribution
Lestes alacer Hagen, 1861 Plateau Spreadwing6 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 Spreadwing6 North America
Lestes barbarus (Fabricius, 1798) Southern Emerald Damselfly,7 Migrant Spreadwing8 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 Spreadwing6 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 Spreadwing6 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,6 Scarce Emerald Damselfly,7 Robust Spreadwing,8 Turlough Spreadwing9 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 Spreadwing6 Northeastern North America
Lestes falcifer Sjöstedt, 1918 Venezuela
Lestes fernandoi Costa, De Souza & Muzón, 2006 Brazil
Lestes forcipatus Rambur, 1842 Sweetflag Spreadwing6 Canada and the United States
Lestes forficula Rambur, 1842 Rainpool Spreadwing6 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 Spreadwing6 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 Damselfly10 or Dark Spreadwing8 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 Spreadwing6 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 Spreadwing6 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,7 Common Spreadwing89 central Europe and Asia from Spain to the Pacific
Lestes spumarius Hagen in Selys, 1862 Antillean Spreadwing6 Caribbean Sea and North America.
Lestes sternalis Navás, 1930 Colombia
Lestes stultus Hagen, 1861 Black Spreadwing6 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 Spreadwing6 United States
Lestes urubamba Kennedy, 1942 Peru
Lestes vidua Hagen, 1861 Carolina Spreadwing6 United States
Lestes vigilax Hagen in Selys, 1862 Swamp Spreadwing6 United States
Lestes virens (Charpentier, 1825) Small Emerald Damselfly,10 Small Spreadwing8 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

  • †Lestes aquisextana
  • †Lestes arvernus
  • †Lestes brisaci
  • †Lestes ceresti
  • †Lestes conexus
  • †Lestes datangensis
  • †Lestes dianacompteae
  • †Lestes forsterii
  • †Lestes irenea
  • †Lestes leucosia
  • †Lestes ligea
  • †Lestes lutzi
  • †Lestes peisinoe
  • †Lestes plicata
  • †Lestes regina
  • †Lestes sieblosiformis
  • †Lestes statzi
  • †Lestes vicina
  • †Lestes zalesskyi
See also

See also

References

References

  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]. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.30911.
  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" (in Italian). Retrieved 24 August 2025.
  4. Endersby, Ian; Fliedner, Heinrich (2015). The Naming of Australia's Dragonflies. Eltham, Victoria, Australia: Busybird Publishing. ISBN 9781925260625.
  5. Paulson, D.; Schorr, M.; Abbott, J.; Bota-Sierra, C.; Deliry, C.; Dijkstra, K.-D.; Lozano, F. "World Odonata List". OdonataCentral. University of Alabama.
  6. "North American Odonata". University of Puget Sound. 2009. Retrieved 5 August 2010.
  7. "Checklist of UK Species". British Dragonfly Society. Archived from the original on 16 April 2011. Retrieved 5 August 2010.
  8. "Checklist, English common names". DragonflyPix.com. Retrieved 5 August 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  9. Brian Nelson; Robert Thompson (2004). The Natural History of Ireland's Dragonflies. Ulster Museum. ISBN 978-0-900761-45-4.
  10. Jacques d'Aguilar; Jean-Louis Dommanget; René Préchac (1986). Field Guide to the Dragonflies of Britain, Europe and North Africa. Collins.
External links
  • Media related to Lestes at Wikimedia Commons
  • Data related to Lestes at Wikispecies