Lestes virgatus
species of insect
Lestes virgatus is a species of damselfly in the family Lestidae, the spreadwings. It is known commonly as the smoky spreadwing. It is native to much of southeastern Africa, where it is widespread. It lives in pools and swamps in forest and woodland habitat.
Taxonomy
Lestes virgatus is a damselfly classified in the family Lestidae, known as the spreadwings. The species was first scientifically described by German biologist Hermann Burmeister in 1839 under the name Agrion virgatum. The type specimen was from Durban. Burmeister included a brief physical account of the species, describing a damselfly about 43 mm (1.7 in) long characterized by four bronzey stripes on its pronotum, an abdomen with a coppery-black back. An 1862 publication by odonatologist Edmond de Sélys Longchamps classified the species into the genus Lestes, calling it Lestes virgata; subsequent writers starting with William F. Kirby in 1890 have corrected the gender to Lestes virgatus. The specific epithet is the nominative case of the Latin adjective virgatus, meaning "long and slender" (as a twig or rod, virga) or banded, striped.
“Lestes virgatus” enters the record as species of insect. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Lestes, virgatus and species can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Lestes virgatus” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Lestes, virgatus and species provides the most credible route into that argument.
Datasets, specimens, observations and peer-reviewed methods provide the appropriate test for the technical claims summarized here. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 22, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1313529. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1839, 1862 and 1890.
Scientific names, classifications and consensus can change while older terminology persists in catalogues and historical literature. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Lestes virgatus” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.