# Emerald Spreadwing

*Lestes dryas*

Unlike most damselflies that fold their wings tightly over their abdomen when resting, the Emerald Spreadwing holds its wings out at a distinctive 45-degree angle.

- **Taxonomy:** Animalia › Arthropoda › Insecta › Odonata › Lestidae › Lestes
- **IUCN Red List status:** Least Concern
- **Population trend:** stable
- **Biome:** wetland
- **Habitat:** Temporary ponds, fens, marshes, and ditches with abundant emergent vegetation.
- **Diet:** Adults eat small flying insects like mosquitoes, midges, and flies. Larvae prey on aquatic invertebrates and small tadpoles.
- **Range:** North America, Europe, Northern Asia
- **Size:** Wingspan of 35-45 mm; body length of 35-42 mm.
- **Lifespan:** Up to 1 year (mostly spent as an aquatic nymph, with adults living for only 4 to 6 weeks).
- **Active:** diurnal
- **Threats:** Loss of wetland habitats, agricultural runoff, water pollution, and climate-induced droughts that dry up breeding pools too early.
- **Safe to approach?:** Completely harmless to humans. You can observe them from a very close distance as they perch on reeds. They do not bite or sting; if one lands on you, simply enjoy the close-up view of its iridescent coloration.

## About

Lestes dryas is a species of damselfly in the family Lestidae, the spreadwings. Its common names include emerald spreadwing , scarce emerald damselfly and robust spreadwing . An alternate name in Ireland is the turlough spreadwing .

## Sources

- Plate: https://gaia-dex.com/species/990eb9c7-c4d6-4023-9633-727c66e98fb2
- iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/104429
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lestes dryas
- Conservation status: IUCN Red List category, as recorded by Gaia-Dex
- Photo: https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/81489031/medium.jpg (Laurel Meredyk, CC-BY, via iNaturalist)

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