Lestidae
Family of damselflies
The Lestidae are a rather small family of cosmopolitan, large-sized, slender damselflies ,[ 2]
known commonly as the spreadwings or spread-winged damselflies .[ 3]
A male Lestes dryas in the "spread-winged" posture that gives the family its common name
Characteristics
While most damselflies rest with their wings folded together, most members of the family Lestidae hold them at an angle away from their bodies. The pterostigma (a single dark spot in the meshwork of the leading edge near the tip of each wing) is noticeably elongated. The quadrilateral (a part of the wing venation, close to the body) has an acute angle at the end. The body has a greenish, metallic shine. The superior anal appendages, commonly called claspers (body parts of male insect for clasping the female during copulation) of male spreadwings are long and strongly curved.
Breeding takes place in slow-moving or still water in stream backwaters, swamps, marshes and temporary pools. The nymphs have a long abdomen and a distinctive prementum (part of the lower lip). There is one generation per year in North American species.[ 4]
Taxonomy
The two subfamilies in Lestidae are Lestinae and Sympecmatinae. Damselflies in the Lestinae rest with their wings partly open, while those in the Sympecmatinae, the reedlings, ringtails, and winter damselflies, rest with their wings folded. The exact taxonomy of the family is disputed, with some authorities including twelve genera[ 5] and some eight.[ 6]
Genera include:
SubFamily
Image
Genus
Extant species
Sympecmatinae Fraser, 1951
Archilestes Selys, 1862
Indolestes Fraser, 1922
Indolestes albicaudus (McLachlan, 1895)
Indolestes alfurus Lieftinck, 1960
Indolestes alleni (Tillyard, 1913) - Small Reedling
Indolestes anomalus Fraser, 1946
Indolestes aruanus Lieftinck, 1951
Indolestes assamicus Fraser, 1930
Indolestes bellax (Lieftinck, 1930)
Indolestes bilineatus (Selys, 1891)
Indolestes birmanus (Selys, 1891)
Indolestes boninensis (Asahina, 1952)
Indolestes cheesmanae Kimmins, 1936
Indolestes coeruleus Fraser, 1924
Indolestes cyaneus (Selys, 1862)
Indolestes dajakanus (Lieftinck, 1948)
Indolestes davenporti (Fraser, 1930)
Indolestes divisus (Hagen in Selys, 1862)
Indolestes extraneus (Needham, 1930)
Indolestes floresianus Lieftinck, 1960
Indolestes goniocercus Lieftinck, 1960
Indolestes gracilis (Hagen in Selys, 1862)
Indolestes guizhouensis Zhou & Zhou, 2005
Indolestes indicus Fraser, 1922
Indolestes inflatus (Fraser, 1933)
Indolestes linsleyi Lieftinck, 1960
Indolestes lundquisti (Lieftinck, 1949)
Indolestes luxatus (Lieftinck, 1932)
Indolestes lygisticercus (Lieftinck, 1932)
Indolestes obiri Watson, 1979 - Cave Reedling
Indolestes peregrinus (Ris, 1916)
Indolestes pulcherrimus Fraser, 1924
Indolestes risi (Van der Weele, 1909)
Indolestes sutteri Lieftinck, 1953
Indolestes tenuissimus Tillyard, 1906 - Slender Reedling
Indolestes vitiensis (Tillyard, 1924)
Sympecma Burmeister, 1839
Lestinae Calvert 1901
Austrolestes Tillyard, 1913
Austrolestes aleison Watson & Moulds, 1979 - Western ringtail
Austrolestes analis (Rambur, 1842) - Slender ringtail
Austrolestes annulosus (Selys, 1862) - Blue ringtail
Austrolestes aridus (Tillyard, 1908) - Inland ringtail
Austrolestes cingulatus (Burmeister, 1839) - Metallic ringtail
Austrolestes colensonis (White, 1846) - Blue damselfly, kekewai
Austrolestes insularis Tillyard, 1913 - Northern ringtail
Austrolestes io (Selys, 1862) - Iota ringtail
Austrolestes leda (Selys, 1862) - Wandering ringtail
Austrolestes minjerriba Watson, 1979 - Dune ringtail
Austrolestes psyche (Hagen in Selys, 1862) - Cup ringtail
Chalcolestes Kennedy, 1920
Lestes Leach, 1815
Lestes alacer Hagen, 1861 – Plateau Spreadwing
Lestes alfonsoi González & Novelo, 2001
Lestes amicus Martin, 1910
Lestes angularis Fraser, 1929
Lestes apollinaris Navás, 1934
Lestes auripennis Fraser, 1955
Lestes auritus Hagen in Selys, 1862
Lestes australis Walker, 1952 – Southern Spreadwing
Lestes barbarus (Fabricius, 1798) – Southern Emerald Damselfly, Migrant Spreadwing
Lestes basidens Belle, 1997
Lestes bipupillatus Calvert, 1909
Lestes concinnus Hagen in Selys, 1862
Lestes congener Hagen, 1861 – Spotted Spreadwing
Lestes curvatus Belle, 1997
Lestes debellardi De Marmels, 1992
Lestes dichrostigma Calvert, 1909
Lestes disjunctus Selys, 1862 – Northern Spreadwing
Lestes dissimulans Fraser, 1955
Lestes dorothea Fraser, 1924
Lestes dryas Kirby, 1890 – Emerald Spreadwing, Scarce Emerald Damselfly,
Lestes elatus Hagen in Selys, 1862
Lestes eurinus Say, 1839 – Amber-winged Spreadwing
Lestes falcifer Sjöstedt, 1918
Lestes fernandoi Costa, De Souza & Muzón, 2006
Lestes forcipatus Rambur, 1842 – Sweetflag Spreadwing
Lestes forficula Rambur, 1842 – Rainpool Spreadwing
Lestes garoensis Lahiri, 1987
Lestes helix Ris, 1918
Lestes henshawi Calvert, 1907
Lestes ictericus Gerstäcker, 1869
Lestes inaequalis Walsh, 1862 – Elegant Spreadwing
Lestes japonicus Selys, 1883
Lestes jerrelli Tennessen, 1997
Lestes jurzitzai Muzon, 1994
Lestes macrostigma (Eversmann, 1836) – Dark Emerald Damselfly
Lestes malabaricus Fraser, 1929
Lestes malaisei Schmidt, 1964
Lestes minutus Selys, 1862
Lestes nigriceps Fraser, 1924
Lestes nodalis Selys, 1891
Lestes numidicus Samraoui, Weekers & Dumont, 2003
Lestes ochraceus Selys, 1862
Lestes pallidus Rambur, 1842
Lestes patricia Fraser, 1924
Lestes paulistus Calvert, 1909
Lestes pictus Hagen in Selys, 1862
Lestes pinheyi Fraser, 1955
Lestes plagiatus (Burmeister, 1839)
Lestes praecellens Lieftinck, 1937
Lestes praemorsus Hagen in Selys, 1862
Lestes praevius Lieftinck, 1940
Lestes pruinescens Martin, 1910
Lestes quadristriatus Calvert, 1909
Lestes rectangularis Say, 1839 – Slender Spreadwing
Lestes regulatus Martin, 1910
Lestes scalaris Gundlach, 1888
Lestes secula May, 1993
Lestes sigma Calvert, 1901 – Chalky Spreadwing
Lestes silvaticus Schmidt, 1951
Lestes simplex Hagen, 1861
Lestes simulatrix McLachlan, 1895
Lestes spatula Fraser, 1946
Lestes sponsa (Hansemann, 1823) – Emerald Damselfly,
Lestes spumarius Hagen in Selys, 1862 – Antillean Spreadwing
Lestes sternalis Navás, 1930
Lestes stultus Hagen, 1861 – Black Spreadwing
Lestes temporalis Selys, 1883
Lestes tenuatus Rambur, 1842 – Blue-striped Spreadwing
Lestes thoracicus Laidlaw, 1920
Lestes tikalus Kormoondy, 1959
Lestes trichonus Belle, 1997
Lestes tricolor Erichson, 1848
Lestes tridens McLachlan, 1895
Lestes umbrinus Selys, 1891
Lestes uncifer Karsch, 1899
Lestes undulatus Say, 1840
Lestes unguiculatus Hagen, 1861 – Lyre-tipped Spreadwing
Lestes urubamba Kennedy, 1942
Lestes vidua Hagen, 1861 – Carolina Spreadwing
Lestes vigilax Hagen in Selys, 1862 – Swamp Spreadwing
Lestes virens (Charpentier, 1825) – Small Emerald Damselfly,
Lestes virgatus (Burmeister, 1839)
Lestes viridulus Rambur, 1842
Orolestes
Platylestes Selys, 1862
Sinhalestes Fraser, 1951
See also
References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to
Lestidae .
^ Calvert, P.P. (1901). "Fam. Odonata". In Godman, F.D.; Salvin, O. (eds.). Biologia Centrali-Americana . Vol. Insecta. Neuroptera (1892-1908). London: R.H. Porter. pp. 17– 342, 342–410 [45]. doi :10.5962/bhl.title.730 .
^ Dijkstra, K.D.B.; et al. (2013). "The classification and diversity of dragonflies and damselflies (Odonata). In: Zhang, Z.-Q. (Ed.) Animal Biodiversity: An Outline of Higher-level Classification and Survey of Taxonomic Richness (Addenda 2013)" . Zootaxa . 3703 (1): 36– 45. doi :10.11646/zootaxa.3703.1.9 . hdl :10072/61365 .
^ Lestidae. Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS).
^ John L. Capinera (2008). Encyclopedia of Entomology . Springer Science & Business Media. p. 1244. ISBN 978-1-4020-6242-1 .
^ Davies, D. A. L. (1981). A synopsis of the extant genera of the Odonata. Soc. Int. Odonatol. 3 : i-xiv 1-59
^ Bridges, C.A. (1994). Catalogue of the family-group, genus-group and species-group names of the Odonata of the world, 3e éd. . Urbana, Illinois. xiv 951 pp.