Lestes is a genus of damselfly in the family Lestidae.[1] 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.
The name Lestes comes from the Greek word λῃστής (lēistēs) meaning predator.[2]
The genus Lestes includes the following species:
| Male | Female | Scientific name | Common Name | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lestes alacer | Plateau Spreadwing[3] | Central America and North America | ||
| Lestes alfonsoi | Central America. | |||
| Lestes amicus | Congo, Tanzania, Angola | |||
| Lestes angularis | India | |||
| Lestes apollinaris | Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela | |||
| Lestes auripennis | Madagascar | |||
| Lestes auritus | Brazil | |||
| Lestes australis | Southern Spreadwing | North America | ||
| Lestes barbarus | Southern Emerald Damselfly, Migrant Spreadwing | Europe in a band across Spain, France, Italy and Greece to India and Mongolia. | ||
| Lestes basidens | Surinam | |||
| Lestes bipupillatus | Brazil, Venezuela, Argentina | |||
| Lestes concinnus | Dusky Spreadwing | India, Southeast Asia as far as New Caledonia, and northern parts of Australia | ||
| Lestes congener | Spotted Spreadwing | Canada and in the United States | ||
| Lestes curvatus | Surinam | |||
| Lestes debellardi | Surinam | |||
| Lestes dichrostigma | Brazil | |||
| Lestes disjunctus | Northern Spreadwing | United States and Canada. | ||
| Lestes dissimulans | 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 | Forest Spreadwing | south and northeast India to Thailand and Malaysia | ||
| Lestes dryas | Emerald Spreadwing, Scarce Emerald Damselfly, Robust Spreadwing, Turlough Spreadwing[4] | central Europe and Asia from France to the Pacific and across North America | ||
| Lestes elatus | India, Thailand and Sri Lanka. | |||
| Lestes eurinus | Amber-winged Spreadwing | Northeastern North America | ||
| Lestes falcifer | Venezuela | |||
| Lestes fernandoi | Brazil | |||
| Lestes forcipatus | Sweetflag Spreadwing | Canada and the United States | ||
| Lestes forficula | Rainpool Spreadwing | Caribbean Sea, Central America, North America, and South America | ||
| Lestes garoensis | India | |||
| Lestes helix | Peru, Venezuela | |||
| Lestes henshawi | Costa Rica, Ecuador, Colombia, Peru, Venezuela | |||
| Lestes ictericus | 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 | Elegant Spreadwing | eastern Canada and the United States | ||
| Lestes japonicus | Japan, Korean Peninsula, Eastern Russia | |||
| Lestes jerrelli | Ecuador | |||
| Lestes jurzitzai | Brazil | |||
| Lestes macrostigma | Dark Emerald Damselfly[5] or Dark Spreadwing | Europe into Central Asia and the Middle East | ||
| Lestes malabaricus | Sri Lanka, South India and Andaman Islands | |||
| Lestes malaisei | Myanmar | |||
| Lestes minutus | Brazil, Trinidad, Venezuela | |||
| Lestes nigriceps | Cambodia | |||
| Lestes nodalis | Northeast India, Thailand and China. | |||
| Lestes numidicus | Algeria | |||
| Lestes ochraceus | Benin; Côte d'Ivoire; Democratic Republic of the Congo; Gabon; Gambia; Ghana; Kenya; Malawi; South Sudan; Tanzania; Uganda; Zambia; Zimbabwe | |||
| Lestes pallidus | 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 | Western Ghats in India | |||
| Lestes paulistus | Brazil | |||
| Lestes pictus | Brazil | |||
| Lestes pinheyi | Pinhey's Spreadwing | Angola; Botswana; Democratic Republic of the Congo; Gabon; Ghana; Malawi; Namibia; Nigeria; Tanzania; Zambia; Zimbabwe | ||
| Lestes plagiatus | Highland Spreadwing | Angola; Botswana; Democratic Republic of the Congo; Kenya; Malawi; Mozambique; Nigeria; Republic of South Africa; Swaziland; Tanzania; Uganda; Zambia; Zimbabwe | ||
| Lestes praecellens | Malaysia | |||
| Lestes praemorsus | India to China and south to New Guinea | |||
| Lestes praevius | Sabah | |||
| Lestes pruinescens | Madagascar | |||
| Lestes quadristriatus | Brazil | |||
| Lestes rectangularis | Slender Spreadwing | eastern Canada and the United States | ||
| Lestes regulatus | Ethiopia | |||
| Lestes scalaris | Caribbean | |||
| Lestes secula | Panama | |||
| Lestes sigma | Chalky Spreadwing | Central America and North America | ||
| Lestes silvaticus | Madagascar | |||
| Lestes simplex | Mexico | |||
| Lestes simulatrix | Madagascar | |||
| Lestes spatula | Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay | |||
| Lestes sponsa | Emerald Damselfly,[6] Common Spreadwing[7] | central Europe and Asia from Spain to the Pacific | ||
| Lestes spumarius | Antillean Spreadwing | Caribbean Sea and North America. | ||
| Lestes sternalis | Colombia | |||
| Lestes stultus | Black Spreadwing | United States | ||
| Lestes temporalis | Japan | |||
| Lestes tenuatus | Blue-striped Spreadwing | Central America, Ecuador | ||
| Lestes thoracicus | emerald-striped spreadwing | Bangladesh, India, and Thailand | ||
| Lestes tikalus | Guatemala | |||
| Lestes trichonus | Surinam | |||
| Lestes tricolor | British Guyana | |||
| Lestes tridens | 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 | Myanmar | |||
| Lestes uncifer | Sickle Spreadwing | Cameroon; Democratic Republic of the Congo; Gabon; Kenya; Malawi; Mozambique; Republic of South Africa; Somalia; Tanzania; Uganda; Zambia; Zimbabwe | ||
| Lestes undulatus | Chile, Uruguay, Argentina, Chile | |||
| Lestes unguiculatus | Lyre-tipped Spreadwing | United States | ||
| Lestes urubamba | Peru | |||
| Lestes vidua | Carolina Spreadwing | United States | ||
| Lestes vigilax | Swamp Spreadwing | United States | ||
| Lestes virens | Small Emerald Damselfly, Small Spreadwing | Algeria; Morocco; Tunisia | ||
| Lestes virgatus | 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 | Emerald-striped Spreadwing | India | ||