Insects › Spreadwings and allies
Sweetflag Spreadwing
Lestes forcipatus
28 photos
Study shows up to four per card, from different observers, so you learn the species rather than one picture. Heart the good ones and swap any you do not like.
Photos you add are credited to you, and you keep the copyright.
Easily confused with
Slender SpreadwingLestes rectangularis
Northern SpreadwingLestes disjunctus
Spotted SpreadwingLestes congener
Emerald SpreadwingLestes dryas
Southern SpreadwingLestes australis
Lyre-tipped SpreadwingLestes unguiculatus
Swamp SpreadwingLestes vigilax
Study checks a spoken answer against these, and tells you which one you named.
Where it is recorded
| United States | 2,882 |
|---|---|
| Canada | 2,030 |
| Ontario | 947 |
| Quebec | 621 |
| Ohio | 506 |
| New York | 390 |
| Michigan | 307 |
| Indiana | 143 |
| Nova Scotia | 131 |
| Maine | 126 |
Counts show where people looked, not only where it lives.
Traits
Physical
- Aquatic larvaLarval stage lives in water before becoming terrestrialFrom its classification
- ExoskeletonHas a hard external skeletonFrom its classification
Classification
| Kingdom | Animals · Animalia |
|---|---|
| Phylum | Arthropods · Arthropoda |
| Class | Insects · Insecta |
| Order | Dragonflies and Damselflies · Odonata |
| Family | Spreadwings and allies · Lestidae |
| Genus | Pond Spreadwings · Lestes |
Sources
- Names, taxonomy and observation counts: www.inaturalist.org
- Photos and recordings: the creator and source are on each one.
- How much to rely on each source
Remember the name next time.
Practise Sweetflag Spreadwing with real photos from different observers. Say the name out loud, and it comes back just before you would forget it.