Lestes barbarus
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
Lestes barbarus is a species of damselfly of the family Lestidae, the spreadwings. Its common names in English include southern emerald damselfly, shy emerald damselfly, and migrant spreadwing. Lestes barbarus is a European–central Asian species with isolated populations in North Africa and a range expanding northward. It is found across southern Europe in a band across Spain, France, Italy and Greece to India and Mongolia. It is less common in northern Europe, although some are found as far north as Sweden. It breeds in the Netherlands in coastal dunes and is increasing in number. It is at the edge of its range in the Channel Islands, where it has been breeding since 1995. It is also found in North Africa; it gets its Latin name as the first specimen was found in Barbary, North Africa. It is a damselfly of still water and can be found in stagnant and slightly brackish water.
This species was first recorded in Britain at Winterton Dunes, Norfolk, on 30 July 2002. In 2003 and 2004 it was noted at Sandwich Bay, Kent. In 2018 it was proven to have bred in Britain for the first time. This species has the typical appearance of a Lestes... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kiskunság National Park | 🇭🇺 Hungary | |
| 2 | Camargue | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 3 | Fertő-Hanság National Park | 🇭🇺 Hungary | |
| 4 | Cévennes National Park | 🇫🇷 France |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Migrant Spreadwing sighting in Cévennes National Park on a given day, based on 8 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 666th most-seen of the 996 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May–June and August–September
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Migrant Spreadwing in Cévennes National Park on a given day, against under 5% in July and October–April, the lowest months.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Migrant Spreadwing sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
4th of 4
Of the 4 parks where we can rate Migrant Spreadwing sightings, Cévennes National Park ranks 4th at about 10%. The best odds are in Kiskunság National Park (Hungary, about 20%), Camargue (France, about 10%) and Fertő-Hanság National Park (Hungary, about 10%).
Same genus: Lestes
The closest relatives of the Migrant Spreadwing that you can see in Cévennes National Park (genus Lestes, Pond Spreadwings) are Common Spreadwing (about 10%), Small Spreadwing (about 10%) and Emerald Spreadwing (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Migrant Spreadwing is recorded against all the insects logged in Cévennes National Park (8 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
