Hangs over and close to water surface, very still for long periods. Mating pairs common.
Medium-sized, very variable in patterning and colour, inconspicuous greyish, striped with light blue eyes. Shallowpools inwarmer parts of SA.
FSP, GP, KZNP (especially north coastal), MP lowveld, NWP, LP and one ECP record. Common in and S of Kruger National Park. To Sudan andWest Africa. iSimangaliso Wetland Park
Flight period: Late Oct-Apr
Face: dark grey, with light greenish blue labrum and lower part of anteclypeus. Head above distinctly dark grey.
Eyes: bright sky blue and light grey below, with some central, grey flecks.
Synthorax: Strongly, weakly or sparsely striped, dark greenish grey and green in young male, to very dark grey and bluish green with pruinescence in lower half in older males.
Wings: clear.
Pterostigmas: dark grey with lighter border, becoming all blackish grey with age.
Abdomen: S1-2 and S7-8 mostly dark grey. S3-6 mostly greenish grey in young male and greenish blue in old male, with dark, dorsal line along length of abdomen. S9-10 heavily pruinescent light grey.
Female: brownish with striped thorax, and unlike male, with very little pruinescence. Outer part and sometimes outer half of pterostigma, very pale.
Semi-permanent, shallow pools and pans, with short, emergent sedges and grasses, mostly in hot areas.
Lestes pallidus does not have the speckled look of L. dissimulans, L. tridens nor L. uncifer, or the plain brown of L.ictericus. Although it is striped like the similarly clear-winged L. plagiatus , it is much smaller, and the thorax very pale. Lacks a broad, black, dorsal abdominal band, as do other SA Lestidae species. Perches on sedges and grass, usually within a few centimetres of the water surface, while L. plagiatus perches high up on tall stems. Also, L. plagiatus is more of a montane or upland species, whereas L.pallidus usually prefers hot, flat areas.
Lestes pallidus is a species of damselfly in the family Lestidae, the spreadwings. Its common names include pallid spreadwing and pale spreadwing. It is native to Africa, where it is widespread. It lives around pools and streams.[1]
Lestes pallidus is a species of damselfly in the family Lestidae, the spreadwings. Its common names include pallid spreadwing and pale spreadwing. It is native to Africa, where it is widespread. It lives around pools and streams.
