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Lyre-tipped Spreadwing - Lestes unguiculatus
Native Species
Global Rank:
G5
State Rank:
S5
Agency Status
USFWS:
USFS:
BLM:
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General Description
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Species Range
Montana Range
Range Descriptions
Native
Observations in Montana Natural Heritage Program Database
Number of Observations: 304
(Click on the following maps and charts to see full sized version)
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Relative Density
Recency
(Observations spanning multiple months or years are excluded from time charts)
Habitat
The habitat of Lyre-tipped Spreadwings includes temporary ponds, shallow marshes, marshy ponds and lakes, sloughs and slow streams, as well as artificial wetlands and prairie potholes. Although this species often selects wetlands that dry up during summers months, they are also very adept at colonizing new and artificial wetlands (Westfall and May 1996, Acorn 2004, Paulson 2009).
National Vegetation Classification System Groups Associated with this Species
Wetland and Riparian
Alkaline - Saline Wetlands
Alpine Riparian and Wetland
Peatland
Riparian and Wetland Forest
Riparian Shrubland
Wet Meadow and Marsh
Food Habits
Larvae feed on a wide variety of aquatic insects, such as mosquito larvae, other aquatic fly larvae, mayfly larvae, and freshwater shrimp.
Adult- This damselfly will eat almost any soft-bodied flying insect including mosquitoes, flies, small moths, mayflies, and flying ants or termites.
Reproductive Characteristics
Male Lyre-tipped Spreadwings are not very territorial and usually they simply fly from perch to perch looking for females. Females are taken in tandem soon after their arrival at breeding sites. Oviposition takes place immediately after copulation and is completed in tandem. The pair finds suitable deposition sites (sedges, bulrushes, or bur-reeds) in drier areas of the wetland rather than in the water or on floating vegetation (Acorn 2004, Paulson 2009).
The Lyre-tipped Spreadwing is another Lestes species (Emerald and Northern Spreadwings) where the deposited eggs halt their development and overwinter before restarting again after the wetland fills with water or unfreezes in the spring (Acorn 2004).
Stewardship Responsibility
References
- Literature Cited AboveLegend:
View Online Publication- Acorn, J. 2004. Damselflies of Alberta: flying neon toothpicks in grass. Edmonton, Alberta: University of Alberta Press. 156 pp.
- Paulson, D.R. 2009. Dragonflies and Damselflies of the West. Princeton University Press, Princeton. 535 pp.
Westfall, M.J., Jr. and M.L. May. 1996. Damselflies of North America. Scientific Publishers, Gainesville, Florida. 649 pp.
- Additional ReferencesLegend: View Online Publication
Do you know of a citation we're missing?- Dunkle, S.W. 2000. Dragonflies through binoculars: A field guide to dragonflies of North America. New York, NY. Oxford University Press. 266 pp.
- Sater, S. 2022. The insects of Sevenmile Creek, a pictorial guide to their diversity and ecology. Undergraduate Thesis. Helena, MT: Carroll College. 242 p.
- Wells, E.A. 1986. Alpine limnology of selected water bodies on the Beartooth Plateau, Montana, with emphasis on benthos. Ph.D. Dissertation. Bozeman, MT: Montana State University. 401 p.
- Web Search Engines for Articles on "Lyre-tipped Spreadwing"
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