California Spreadwing

Archilestes californicus · Order: Odonata · Family: Lestidae

No source yet on danger. We have no source yet on whether it bites, stings or damages anything.
California Spreadwing
Photo: sprcrkwild, CC BY

The California spreadwing belongs to the damselfly family Lestidae. It lives in parts of Central America and North America.

Source: Wikipedia

How to recognize it

The California spreadwing is a spreadwing damselfly in the family Lestidae.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it lives

It is found in habitats across Central America and North America.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it comes from

Its range includes Central America and North America.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it is found in the US

Recorded in 8 of 51 states and DC. Most records: California, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Texas, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico.

Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.

Source: GBIF

Status: native in North America; native in Canada. Source: iNaturalist

Months it is reported in the US

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Source: GBIF

More photos

California Spreadwing photo 3
Photo: Trevor Van Loon, CC BY
California Spreadwing photo 4
Photo: John Hibbard, CC BY
California Spreadwing photo 5
Photo: Victor Heng, CC BY
California Spreadwing photo 6
Photo: Pinnacles National Park, CC BY

Same family (Lestidae)

Western Willow SpreadwingWestern Willow SpreadwingChalcolestes viridisSlender SpreadwingSlender SpreadwingLestes rectangularisCommon Winter DamselflyCommon Winter DamselflySympecma fuscaCommon SpreadwingCommon SpreadwingLestes sponsaGreat SpreadwingGreat SpreadwingArchilestes grandisSpotted SpreadwingSpotted SpreadwingLestes congener

Sources

  • Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archilestes_californicus

Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia

Text written 2026-10-23 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-23.

How this page works

This is one bug's fact sheet. The colored box at the top says whether it is dangerous. Sections below cover how to recognize it, whether it is a pest, and how to deal with it. The US map shows which states have records; tap a state to see other bugs there.

Every fact on Bug FAQ comes from a named source (university extension sites, government agencies, GBIF, iNaturalist, Wikipedia). The source is linked next to each section. If we have no source for something, we leave it out.