Sweetflag spreadwing

The sweetflag spreadwing (Lestes forcipatus) is a species of damselfly in the family Lestidae, the spreadwings. It is native to North America, especially eastern parts of Canada and the United States.[1]

Sweetflag spreadwing

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Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Odonata
Suborder: Zygoptera
Family: Lestidae
Genus: Lestes
Species:
L. forcipatus
Binomial name
Lestes forcipatus
Rambur, 1842

Identification

This is a medium-sized spreadwing, measuring about 38 to 50 millimeters in length. The male has a dark or black thorax with tan or bluish sides and with pale stripes across the shoulders. The abdomen is dark with a light gray tip. The body is pruinescent, especially in older specimens. The female is thicker in build with a dark to black body. Both sexes may have a light brown spot on the underside of the thorax.[2]

This species is difficult to distinguish from the common spreadwing (L. disjunctus).[3][4]

Biology

This species lives near ponds, marshes, and slow-running streams.[2]

References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lestes forcipatus.
  1. Lestes forcipatus – Sweetflag Spreadwing. The Dragonflies (Insecta: Odonata) of the Columbia Basin, British Columbia. Royal BC Museum.
  2. Lestes forcipatus. Wisconsin Odonata Survey. Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.
  3. Sweetflag Spreadwing, Lestes forcipatus. NJOdes: The Dragonflies and Damselflies of New Jersey.
  4. Simaika, J. P., & Cannings, R. A. (2004). Lestes disjunctus Selys and L. forcipatus Rambur (Odonata: Lestidae): some solutions for identification. Journal of the Entomological Society of British Columbia, 101, 131-140.
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