Photograph courtesy of the Institute for Water Quality Studies, Department of Water Affairs and Forestry

The Lestid Damselflies (Odonata: Lestidae) of South Africa Compiled by Tanza Crouch and Tessa Hedge Department of Entomology & Arachnology, Durban Natural Science Museum, P O Box 4085, Durban, 4000 South Africa Tel: +27 [0]31-311 2243       Fax: +27 [0]31-311 2242

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Family: LESTIDAE Calvert, 1901

1. Genus: LESTES Leach 1815: 137
   1. L. dissimulans Fraser

      Lestes dissimulans Fraser 1955: Rev. zool. bot. Afr. 51: 38, f. 1
      Northern Province, to Botswana and equatorial Africa; December

      
      
   2. L. ictericus Gerstaeker

      Lestes icterica Gerstaeker 1869: Arch. Naturgesch. 35: 222

      = Lestes disarmata Fraser 1961: 11
      KwaZulu-Natal and Northern Province, to Botswana, Namibia and equatorial Africa; February and March

      
      
   3. L. ochraceus Sélys

      Lestes ochracea Sélys 1862: Bull. Acad. R. Belg. 13: 325
      Records of doubtful provenance; probably does not occur south of the Zambezi River.

      
      
   4. L. pallidus Rambur

      Lestes pallida Rambur 1842: Ins. Neur. 242
      Lesotho, KwaZulu-Natal, Swaziland, Northern Province, Gauteng and Northwestern Province, to equatorial Africa; October, December to March, June and July

      
      
   5. L. plagiata (Burmeister)

      Agrion plagiatum Burmeister 1839: Handb. Ent. 2(II)2: 824
      Eastern Cape, Free State, Lesotho, KwaZulu-Natal, Swaziland, Mpumalanga, Gauteng, Northern Province and Northwestern Province, to equatorial Africa; October to May

      
      
   6. L. tridens McLachlan

      Lestes tridens McLachlan 1895: Ann. Mag. nat. Hist. (6)16: 24
      KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga, to equatorial Africa; November and December

      
      
   7. L. uncifer Karsch

      Lestes uncifer Karsch 1899: Ent. Nachr. 25: 381
      KwaZulu-Natal, to Zimbabwe and equatorial Africa; September

      
      
   8. L. virgatus (Burmeister)

      Agrion virgatum Burmeister 1839: Handb. Ent. 2(II)2: 824
      Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Swaziland, Mpumalanga and Gauteng, to equatorial Africa; November to August