# Spotted Spreadwing

*Lestes congener*

Unlike most damselflies that fold their wings vertically over their backs, spreadwings keep them open at a 45-degree angle when resting.

- **Taxonomy:** Animalia › Arthropoda › Insecta › Odonata › Lestidae › Lestes
- **IUCN Red List status:** Least Concern
- **Population trend:** stable
- **Biome:** wetland
- **Habitat:** Stagnant ponds, marshes, slow-moving streams, and adjacent wet meadows or grassy fields.
- **Diet:** Carnivorous, preying on small flying insects such as mosquitoes, gnats, and midges.
- **Range:** United States, Canada
- **Size:** 35 to 42 mm in length with a slender abdomen.
- **Lifespan:** 1 to 2 months as an adult; up to 1 year including the aquatic nymph stage.
- **Active:** diurnal
- **Threats:** Habitat loss due to wetland drainage and water pollution from pesticide runoff.
- **Safe to approach?:** Completely harmless to humans. These damselflies do not bite or sting. Observe their resting posture from a distance; if they land on you, do not swat, as their wings and limbs are extremely fragile.

## About

Lestes congener is a species of damselfly in the family Lestidae, the spreadwings. It is known by the common name spotted spreadwing .

## Sources

- Plate: https://gaia-dex.com/species/4c7104e6-74da-49a0-a3b7-d222d83b1107
- iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/104422
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lestes congener
- Conservation status: IUCN Red List category, as recorded by Gaia-Dex
- Photo: https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/162260554/medium.jpg (Nick Block, CC-BY, via iNaturalist)

Habitat, diet, size and similar notes are AI-written summaries; check them against the linked sources before relying on them.