Spotted Spreadwing, Lestes tridens, Gevlekte Spanvlerkie

Short Description:

Spotted Spreadwing, Lestes tridens Gevlekte Spanvlerkie is small to medium sized, greyish green to greyish blue, with dark grey elongated spots and speckles and a distinctive wavy oak leaf pattern on the top of the thorax Very similar to Cryptic Spreadwing, L. dissimulans.

Family Lestidae    (Calvert, 1901)

More images:

Click on all images to enlarge or view more

Key identification features:

Male

• Face dark grey above, buff  below; labrum bluish grey. Head dark grey in front, light grey behind from above. Eyes bright blue above, light greyish blue below. Neck dark grey, bordered with pruinescence.
• Thorax metallic green above, darkening to grey and blue with age; sides pruinescent pale grey with dark grey elongated spots or flecks. Area between wing bases highly pruinescent with dark flecks. A distinctive wavy oak leaf pattern on the tdorsal thorax
• Wings clear, becoming slightly smoky with age. Pterostigmas dark greyish brown.
• Abdomen Segments 2 to 8 and first half of segment 9 dark grey above with partial yellowish rings The rings are fine but distinct  blackish brown and white at segment boundaries. Second half of segment 9 and segment 10 pruinescent light grey. Less blue on the terminal segments .Superior appendages are distinctly whitish with black bases and tips.There are three teeth on the inside of each upper clasper. Upper clasper has a single blunt tooth close to the base.

Female

• Similar to male
• Generally light brown, thorax speckled with dark brown spots.

Compared with other species:

• L. dissimulans, Cryptic Spreadwing is also speckled but has dark appendages and one tooth on the inside of each upper clasper.
• Pterostigmas of the L. dissimulans are longer (>1 mm.) The pterostigmas of L. tridens is <1 mm. 

Habitat

• Preferred habitat is grassy and bushy margins of pools, dams, swamps, lake shores, and waterholes, usually with emergent and often aquatic vegetation.
• From 0 to 1800 m above sea level, but mostly below 600.

Behaviour

• Hangs with wings outstretched inactively on grass stems or twigs over water. Female often with male.

Habitat

Grassy and bushy margins of pools, dams and waterholes in hot areas.

Flight Period

• November to May

Compared with other species:

• L. dissimulans, Cryptic Spreadwing is also speckled but has dark appendages and one tooth on the inside of each upper clasper.
• Pterostigmas of the L. dissimulans are longer (>1 mm.) The pterostigmas of L. tridens is <1 mm. 

Distribution 

South Africa:

• From E Cape to the northern parts of South Africa and the coastal plains of KZN, eastern Mpumalanga and LP. 

Africa:

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;

Further reading:

Websites:
A Visual Guide to the Damselflies and Dragonflies of South Africa
The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species       Least concern.