Swamp spreadwing
Lestes vigilax
The swamp spreadwing is a long, thin damselfly from North America. It is about as long as your little finger. You can see it flying near swamps and ponds from spring until autumn.
Lives in
Eastern North America, from southern Ontario down to Georgia and Texas
Length
4.2 to 5.5 cm (1.7 to 2.2 in)
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. Dragonflies and damselflies have no sting, so just watch it fly.
What does it eat?
It catches small flying insects such as midges and mosquitoes. Its young live under water and hunt tiny water animals.
How big is it?
How long is it?
🍚as long as 9 grains of rice in a row🧱as long as 1.5 toy building bricks in a row⚽could fly across a whole football pitch in 29 seconds⚡moves 66 times its own body length every second
How big is Swamp spreadwing compared to YOU?
Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.
How fast is it?
A person walking about 5 km/h (3.1 mph)
A kid running fast about 13 km/h (8.1 mph)
Swamp spreadwing about 13 km/h (8.1 mph)
A grown-up on a bike about 25 km/h (16 mph)
cool stuff
Fun facts
1
It grows 4.2 to 5.5 centimetres long.
2
It is most often seen between May and October.
3
Like all damselflies, it starts life under water and climbs out later to get its wings.
you asked
Most asked questions about Swamp spreadwing
?How big is the swamp spreadwing?
It is 42 to 55 mm long.
?Where does the swamp spreadwing live?
In eastern North America, from Ontario in Canada down to Georgia and Texas.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Lestes vigilax
- Group
- Dragonflies and damselflies
- Family
- Lestidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Odonata > Lestidae
- Lives on
- North America
Where the facts come from
- Lestes vigilax (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 Cody Hough. CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
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