Species Spotlight: California Spreadwing

The next species in the "spotlight" is the California Spreadwing, the largest damselfly in the Puget Sound area. It is so large, in fact, that on the wing it can look like a female meadowhawk.

This species was first seen in our area at Magnuson Park in Seattle, but since then it has been found at a number of other Puget Sound locations as well. It is more common in western Oregon and much of California. Here's the range map for this species:



Definitely a western species.

In addition to being conspicuously large, the California Spreadwing is easily identifiable by its overall brown color, with pale markings on the sides of the thorax. In particular, there is one prominent light-colored side stripe with contrasting dark borders that is an excellent field mark for this species. It also has pale rings along the length of the abdomen. You can see these features clearly below:





The female looks much the same as the male, with the same side stripes on the thorax. Her abdomen is rather stocky, however, and it has a prominent ovipositor at the tip. In the following photo a female is being held by a male, who grabs her by the front of the thorax. Male dragonflies hold the females by the back of the head, but the head is so small in damselflies that it is better to grab the female by her thorax.



This is an interesting damselfly, and one that is easy to spot due to its size.

Read more about this and other west coast odonates in my field guide:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1934199265/ref=s9u_simh_gw_i1?ie=UTF8&fpl=fresh&pd_rd_i=1934199265&pd_rd_r=4Q8FNWQMZKPZ7GYWQB31&pd_rd_w=c79uB&pd_rd_wg=lb3xg&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=&pf_rd_r=038QHD1N13Z2D7NWAP1Q&pf_rd_t=36701&pf_rd_p=1cf9d009-399c-49e1-901a-7b8786e59436&pf_rd_i=desktop