page_title: Chalcolestes viridis
section_title: Identification
hierarchical_section_title: Chalcolestes viridis / Identification
caption_attribution_description: Author: soebe Date: July 21, 2005 Location: Hamburg, Northern Germany
context_page_description: Chalcolestes viridis, formerly Lestes viridis, is a damselfly of the family Lestidae. It has a metallic green body and at rest it holds its wings away from its body. Its common name is the willow emerald damselfly or the western willow spreadwing.
context_section_description: In the field it is not possible to reliably distinguish C. viridis from C. parvidens. Both species are mainly metallic green, like other Lestes damselflies, but larger and darker but they do not have a powder blue pruinescence which is common in other Lestes. The pterostigma is pale brown and outlined in black. The thorax has thin yellow antehumerals and broader yellow stripe above a thin black line on each side; the upper edge of the stripe is irregular. Both C. viridis and C. parvidens have a prominent spur-like marking on the side of the thorax.
  Male - The abdomen is very long. The lower anal appendages are less than half the length of the upper which are a distinctive pale yellow with black tips.
  Female - The ovipositor is longer than in Lestes dryas.
caption: C. viridis showing spur-like mark in thorax.
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