| Great spreadwing | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Photographed at the Denver Botanic Gardens | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Odonata |
| Suborder: | Zygoptera |
| Family: | Lestidae |
| Genus: | Archilestes |
| Species: | A. grandis |
| Binomial name | |
| Archilestes grandis (Rambur, 1842) | |
The great spreadwing (Archilestes grandis) is a damselfly in the family Lestidae. When great spreadwings are startled they often return to the same perch or a perch nearby.
The great spreadwing is one of the largest North American spreadwings, with a length of 2-2.4 inches and a wingspan of 3 inches. The thorax of the male is dull greenish bronze above it is a broad diagonal yellow stripe on sides. It is also the only species with a broad yellow racing stripe on the sides of thorax. The abdomen is dark with a blue-gray tip. Its eyes and face are blue. Females are similar to males but are more brown on the body. Her eyes are more of a paler blue than the male. The yellow stripe also occurs on the female great spreadwing. When females are laying eggs they may appear in a putty-color. It is much the same color as the withered leaves in which they lay eggs.
The great spreadwing is found in western and southern North America. It is more common in western United States than in the eastern. The great spreadwing can also be found in Central America and northern South America. In the 1920s and later Archilestes grandis has recently expanded its range in North America to the east and north.
The great spreadwing prefers slow small streams, often with alder or willows, wetlands, ponds and temporary pools. It breeds readily in heavily vegetated water gardens with unpolluted water, as well as in natural water. Females will oviposit in vegetation such as water iris while clasped by males. The male great spreadwings hanging from vegetation either over or near water, usually fairly low, like under 2 feet. On an occasion the nymphs can be spotted in winter, basking in sunwarmed shallow water alongside tadpoles. They are recognizable by their Y tails which are actually their gills.
This species is most active from April–December. The timing varies with temperature.
When great spreadwings are mating and after collection of sperm, the female cuts a slit in emergent vegetation and oviposits in it. Then nymphs develop underwater until they climb out, ready to emerge as adults. Like other Odonates, emergence usually occurs under the cover of darkness.
Damselflies are flying insects of the suborder Zygoptera in the order Odonata. They are similar to dragonflies but are usually smaller and have slimmer bodies. Most species fold the wings along the body when at rest, unlike dragonflies which hold the wings flat and away from the body. Damselflies have existed since the Late Jurassic, and are found on every continent except Antarctica.
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The blue-eyed darner is a common dragonfly of the family Aeshnidae; native to the western United States, it is commonly sighted in the sagebrush steppe of the Snake River Plain, occurring east to the Midwest from central Canada and the Dakotas south to west Texas and Oklahoma. In Central America it occurs south to Panama. This is usually the second earliest darner to emerge in the spring, with the California darner emerging first. It hunts small flying insects while on the wing.
The Halloween pennant is a species of dragonfly in the family Libellulidae. It is native to eastern North America, as well as the West Indies.
Erythemis simplicicollis, the eastern pondhawk, also known as the common pondhawk, is a dragonfly of the family Libellulidae, native to the eastern two-thirds of the United States and southern Ontario and Quebec, Canada. It is a dragonfly of ponds and still waters. The species is distinguished in that the female is bright green with a banded abdomen and the mature male has a blue abdomen with a green face and green and blue thorax.
Aeshna affinis, the southern migrant hawker or blue-eyed hawker, is a dragonfly found in southern Europe and Asia. It is in the family Aeshnidae and is very similar in appearance to A. mixta.
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The orange bluet is a species of damselfly in the family Coenagrionidae.
Gomphurus externus, the plains clubtail, is a species of dragonfly in the family Gomphidae.
Phanogomphus graslinellus is a species of dragonfly in the family Gomphidae. This species is commonly known as the pronghorn clubtail.
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.
Chalcolestes viridis, formerly Lestes viridis, is a damselfly of the family Lestidae. It has a metallic green body and at rest it holds its wings away from its body. Its common name is the willow emerald damselfly, the green emerald damselfly, or the western willow spreadwing. It has an elongated abdomen and pale brown spots on its wings and resides in areas of still water with overhanging trees.
Aeshna canadensis, the Canada darner, is a species of dragonfly in the family Aeshnidae. It is common throughout southern Canada and the northern United States.
Austrolestes colensonis, commonly known as the blue damselfly, is a species of damselfly of the family Lestidae. It is endemic to New Zealand and can commonly be found throughout the country, and at any time of the year. It is New Zealand's largest damselfly, and only blue odonate.
Palaemnema domina, the desert shadowdamsel, is a species of damselfly in the family Platystictidae. It is native to the extreme south of the United States, Mexico and Central America.
Acanthagrion quadratum, or Mexican wedgetail, is a pond damselfly of the family Coenagrionidae. It was first described by Edmond de Sélys Longchamps in 1876.
