- Spreadwing Damselflies
- Lestidae Family
- Great Spreadwing
- Archilestes grandis
- Southern Spreadwing
- Lestes australis
- Spotted Spreadwing
- Lestes congener
- Northern Spreadwing
- Lestes disjunctus
- Emerald Spreadwing
- Lestes dryas
- Sweetflag Spreadwing
- Lestes forcipatus
- Slender Spreadwing
- Lestes rectangularis
- Lyre-tipped Spreadwing
- Lestes unguiculatus
The Spotted Spreadwing is a late-flying damselfly with (usually) 3 pairs of prominent dark spots on the underside of its whitish thorax. The eyes are blue, the face is pale and the thorax is dark on top. The female is colored much like the male.
It is an uncommon transcontinental species with records south to Alabamain the east and Arizona in west. There are few records in Kansas,Oklahoma and Texas south of Nebraska or in western Iowa. Its distribution is spotty in the state and limited to the westernhalf of the state, where it frequently occurs in alkali situations.
Spotted Spreadwing male. Photo courtesy of Terry Hibbitts.
Green indicates accepted county record (specimen or photograph).
Yellow indicates sight record only.
Size: 31-42mm (1.2-1.7 in)
Habitat: ponds and lakes, often in stagnant or saline water
Great Plains Range: NE, SD, ND, NM, CO, WY, MT, MO, IA
Flight season: late June to mid October