Spotted Spreadwing

Lestes congener

The Spotted Spreadwing is a beautiful dragonfly with long wings and spots on its body. It loves to flutter around water, where it hunts for tiny insects to eat.

Hábitat: Wetlands

Aspecto

The Spotted Spreadwing has a slender body that gleams metallic green or bronze. Its clear wings feature distinctive pale, often bicolored, spots near the tips. Unlike most damselflies, it rests with its wings held slightly open, not pressed together.

ReinoAnimaliaFiloArthropodaClaseInsectaOrdenOdonataFamiliaLestidaeGéneroLestes

Spotted Spreadwing

Categoría

Insectos

Rareza

Common

Peligro

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Snaps

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Datos interesantes

Older damselflies sometimes get a powdery blue or white coating, making them look totally different!

Spotted Spreadwings get their name because they rest with their wings partly open.

Their babies live underwater for almost a year before becoming flying adults!

They use their six spiky legs like a basket to scoop up tiny flying insects in mid-air.

Habilidades especiales

Spotted Spreadwing larvae can breathe and hunt underwater using special feathery gills, helping them survive until they grow wings.

Spotted Spreadwing has special dark wing spots (pterostigmata) that absorb sunlight, helping warm its body so it can fly faster.

The Spotted Spreadwing has lightning-fast reflexes and spiky legs to snatch small flying insects right out of the air for a quick meal.

Medidas y detalles

Envergadura: 40-55 mm
Tamaño: 30-45 mm
Esperanza de vida: 30-60 días
Cantidad de patas: 6

Dieta y alimentación

Tiny flying insects are the favorite meal for the Spotted Spreadwing!

Diferencias por edad: Nymphs eat aquatic invertebrates; adults hunt flying insects.

Alimentos principales

mosquitoes
midges
gnats
small flies

Método de búsqueda

Pursuit

Conexiones ecológicas

eats

Common House Mosquito

Culex pipiens

Hunts these tiny pests in the air.

eaten by

Green Frog

Rana clamitans

A quick snack for hungry frogs near water.

eaten by

Mosquitofish

Gambusia affinis

Eats its young (nymphs) living underwater.

shelters

Cattail

Typha latifolia

Resting and hunting perches among its stalks.

Rasgos

Manchado

Marcado con manchas o parches de un color diferente.

Solitario

Los animales solitarios viven solos durante la mayor parte de su vida y solo interactúan con otros para aparearse o cuidar de sus crías.

Aéreo

Las criaturas aéreas pasan una parte importante de su vida en el aire, utilizando el vuelo para diversas actividades como la caza, la migración o la anidación.

Colorido

Colorido describe a organismos u objetos que exhiben una amplia variedad de colores brillantes y distintivos.

Insectívoro

Este rasgo identifica a los organismos cuya dieta consiste principalmente en insectos y otros pequeños invertebrados.

Humedal

Este rasgo de hábitat identifica especies que se encuentran en humedales, que son áreas de tierra saturadas de agua, ya sea permanente o estacionalmente, e incluyen marismas, pantanos y ciénagas.