Backyard and Beyond

I have not come across any of the spreadwing damselflies in Brooklyn. These Lestidae family insects are the exception to the rule that damselflies rest with their wings folded back above their abdomen, in contrast to the dragonflies who don’t fold their wings at all.

This year I caught a glimpse of a spreadwing — their shape is unmistakable — through a thicket on Staten Island but couldn’t get my camera on it. A couple of weeks ago I finally captured one digitally north of the city. This is a male Slender Spreadwing (Lestes rectangularis). According to my go-to damselfly bible, Ed Lam’s Damselflies of the Northeast, the Slender is perhaps the most common in the region. It is also unique among the male spreadwings in not having a white tipped abdomen. The males, who run longer than the females, can be up to 2.5 inches long.