Eastern willow spreadwing
The eastern willow spreadwing is a shiny, metallic green damselfly. When it rests, it holds its wings spread out wide instead of folding them. It likes to hang in the shade of trees near water.
How fast is it?
Fun facts
It does not lay its eggs in the water. The mother puts them into little cuts in the bark of branches that hang over the water.
The eggs rest in the bark all winter. In spring the babies hatch and drop down into the water.
It looks almost exactly like its cousin, the willow emerald damselfly. Even experts cannot tell them apart in the field.
After they grow wings, the young adults fly away from the water for a while before they come back to lay eggs.
Most asked questions about Eastern willow spreadwing
?Where does the eastern willow spreadwing live?
In south-eastern Europe, on Mediterranean islands and in the Middle East, by water with trees.
?Is the eastern willow spreadwing dangerous?
No. Damselflies have no sting and are harmless.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Chalcolestes parvidens
- Group
- Dragonflies and damselflies
- Family
- Lestidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Odonata > Lestidae
- Lives on
- Europe, Asia
Where the facts come from
- Chalcolestes parvidens (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Charles J. Sharp. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
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