Bug FAQSmoky Spreadwing
Lestes virgatus · Order: Odonata · Family: Lestidae
The smoky spreadwing (Lestes virgatus) is a damselfly of similar size to Lestes plagiatus. It lives in forest and woodland pools and swamps across a wide area of southeastern Africa.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
It has wide metallic bands on the front of its thorax, clear or uniformly yellowish wings, cerci with a broad dimple and a stout tooth plus coarse teeth behind, and small pterostigmata (1.5-2 mm).
Source: Wikipedia
Size
The species is known as the smoky spreadwing and is about the same size as Lestes plagiatus.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
It inhabits pools and swamps within forest and woodland habitats.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
It is native and widespread throughout inland southeastern Africa, from Ethiopia’s Choke Mountains through Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Malawi, Zambia, western Tanzania, southeastern DRC, Zimbabwe and down the South African coast to Cape Town.
Source: Wikipedia
Lookalikes
It can be mistaken for the equally sized Lestes plagiatus.
Source: Wikipedia
More photos
Questions people ask
How can I tell the smoky spreadwing apart from similar species?
Look for wide metallic thorax bands, clear or uniformly yellowish wings, a cerci shape with a broad dimple and stout tooth, and small pterostigmata; these features differ from Lestes amicus and Lestes plagiatus.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Lestidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lestes_virgatus
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-23 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-23.