The Lestes, or spreadwings, are, as their name suggests, the exception among the damselflies since they perch with their wings open. Not particularly common or easy to see, some of the five species occurring in Belgium are difficult to tell apart, with the amount and shape of the blue markings on males as well as the shape of the appendages at the tip of the abdomen being diagnostic. Another very important feature for all odonata is the pterostigma, the coloured patch along the leading edge of the wings, which is dark in this Emerald Damselfly or Common Spreadwing (Lestes sponsa).
