Chalcolestes viridis
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
Chalcolestes viridis, formerly Lestes viridis, is a damselfly of the family Lestidae. It has a metallic green body and at rest it holds its wings away from its body. Its common name is the willow emerald damselfly, the green emerald damselfly, or the western willow spreadwing. It has an elongated abdomen and pale brown spots on its wings and resides in areas of still water with overhanging trees.
The genus Chalcolestes is separated from Lestes because of differences in their larvae. A closely related species C. parvidens used to be considered a sub-species of C. viridis. C. parvidens occurs in Greece, Bulgaria, Croatia and in Italy; near Rome it flies with C. viridis in the same ponds. There are small morphological differences between the two species both as adults and larvae and analysis of proteins from the two species, by electrophoresis, also supports their separation into two species, but they are hard to tell apart in the field. C. parvidens flies earlier in the year than C. viridis.
C. viridis is found across southern and central Europe and in North Africa. In the eastern mediterranean it is replaced by C. parvidens with areas of... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cévennes National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 2 | Bavarian Forest National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 3 | Wadden Sea National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 4 | Sierra de Guadarrama National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Western Willow Spreadwing sighting in Cévennes National Park on a given day, based on 16 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 468th most-seen of the 996 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
June to October
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Western Willow Spreadwing in Cévennes National Park on a given day, against under 5% in November to May, the lowest months.
Between noon and 3 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Western Willow 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.
Yes
Of the 4 parks where we can rate Western Willow Spreadwing sightings, Cévennes National Park has the highest daily chance: about 10%. Next come Bavarian Forest National Park (Germany, about 10%) and Wadden Sea National Park (Germany, under 5%).
Same family: Lestidae
The closest relatives of the Western Willow Spreadwing that you can see in Cévennes National Park (family Lestidae, Spreadwings and allies) are Common Winter Damselfly (about 10%), Common Spreadwing (about 10%) and Small Spreadwing (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Western Willow Spreadwing is recorded against all the insects logged in Cévennes National Park (16 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.
