Lestes dryas
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~50%
Lestes dryas is a species of damselfly in the family Lestidae, the spreadwings. Its common names include emerald spreadwing, scarce emerald damselfly and robust spreadwing. An alternate name in Ireland is the turlough spreadwing.
This species is native to the Holarctic, especially northern parts of Eurasia and North America. It is relictual in North Africa. Lestes dryas can tolerate extreme conditions that few other dragonflies can survive. This damselfly is about 35 to 42 millimetres (1.4 to 1.7 in) long, with the males generally longer than the females. The males have a wingspan of about 45 millimetres (1.8 in), and the females of about 47 millimetres (1.9 in).
Like the other members of the genus Lestes, both sexes of L. dryas have largely metallic green bodies with a bronze iridescence. They usually rest with their wings half spread. L. dryas is very similar in appearance to the emerald damselfly Lestes sponsa and care must be taken to tell the two species apart.
The male has blue eyes. Powder blue pruinescence develops on the damselflies as they age. However all Lestes are very similar in appearance and it is the shape and colour of the anal appendage that... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cape Breton Highlands National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 2 | Mercantour National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 3 | Pyrénées National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 4 | Yosemite National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Cévennes National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 6 | Glacier National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Rocky Mountain National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Novosibirsk | 🇷🇺 Russia | |
| 2 | Moscow | 🇷🇺 Russia | |
| 3 | Copenhagen | 🇩🇰 Denmark | |
| 4 | Toronto | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 5 | Chicago | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Boston | 🇺🇸 United States |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report an Emerald Spreadwing sighting in Mercantour National Park on a given day, based on 8 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 348th most-seen of the 412 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
July and August
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report an Emerald Spreadwing in Mercantour National Park on a given day, against under 5% in September to June, the lowest months. Those are among Mercantour National Park's driest months, with about 55 mm of rain a month against 140 mm in October.
Between 11 am and 2 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Emerald 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.
Among the best
Of the 7 parks where we can rate Emerald Spreadwing sightings, Mercantour National Park ranks 2nd at about 10%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Cape Breton Highlands National Park (Canada, about 10%).
Same order: Odonata
The closest relatives of the Emerald Spreadwing that you can see in Mercantour National Park (order Odonata, Dragonflies and Damselflies) are Sedge Darner (about 30%), Common Blue Damselfly (about 30%) and Nomad (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Emerald Spreadwing is recorded against all the insects logged in Mercantour 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.
