Montana Field Guide

The Spotted Spreadwing is a rather dull brown spreadwing damselfly. Dark spots on the sides of the thorax distinctive. Spots appear to be the only spreadwings with males having lower surface of eyes brown. Pruniosity on the tip of the abdomen not quite as conspicuous as only co-occuring spreadwings--the Northern, Emerald or Lyre-tipped.

The Spotted Spreadwing is a rather dull brown spreadwing damselfly. Dark spots on the sides of the thorax distinctive. Spotteds apprear to be the only spreadwings with males having lower surface of eyes brown. Pruniosity on the tip of the abdomen not quite as conspicuous as only co-occuring spreadwings--the Northern, Emerald or Lyre-tipped.

The habitat of the Spotted Spreadwing includes marsh-emergent vegetation bordered lakes and ponds, small ponds, pools, swamps and sluggish backwaters and slow streams as well as saline lakes. It is common for the breeding ponds to dry up sometime during the summer months (Westfall and May 1996, Nikula et al. 2002, Acorn 2004, Paulson 2009).

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.

Male Spotted Spreadwings are present in tall emergent vegetation. However, they often mate with females away from breeding sites and pairs arrive in tandem. Oviposition is done in tandem with female slicing into the stems of emergent vegetation (usually bulrushes) with ovipositor. The pairs moves down stem depositing eggs with males often releasing the female to complete oviposition alone (Nikula et al. 2002, Paulson 2009).

Intertingly, the egg of the Spotted Spreadwing halts its development at an early stage and is basically dormant throughout the winter months, easily surviving extremely cold temperatures and desiccation. When spring arrives, the eggs continue development and larvae hatch later in the summer than other spreadwings. As a result of this delay, adult Spotted Spreadwings are often the last Lestes species to be found in the fall (Acorn 2004).