LESTES 277 
263. Lestes sigma Calvert 
Calv. ’09, p. 96: Mtk. Cat. p. 39. 
Length 41 mm. Expanse 44 mm. N. Mex. and Tex. 
A rather pale southern species of medium size. Face pale, becoming black 
above with age. Thorax yellowish with a small superior metallic green spot 
and an isolated green stripe, becoming pruinose black with age. Femora pale 
lined with black; tibiae pale externally; tarsi black. Abdomen greenish, blacken- 
ing with age. Middle segments with basal blue rings interrupted on the middle 
line. Side margins of 3-7 blue. Apical segments and appendages black. 
264. Lestes vidua Hagen 
Hag. 61, p. 69: Mtk. Cat. p. 40. 
Length 39 mm. Expanse 45 mm. La. 
This is a small blackish species. The face is a drab color below the inter- 
clypeal suture, plainly clothed with long white bristles. Head black above. 
Front of thorax black with a narrow brown line on the carina and a broader 
one at the humeral suture, widest in the middle. Sides of thorax blackish above, 
yellow beneath with a stripe on the third lateral suture that is confluent above 
with the black about the wing roots. Legs brownish, paler basally. Interalar 
area densely pruinose. Abdomen obscure blackish with greenish reflections on 
middle segments. Pale side margins on basal segments. Appendages black-tipped 
and scantily clothed with short, tawny hairs. 
265. Lestes forcipatus Rambur 
Ramb. ’42, p. 246: Mtk. Cat. p. 37: Garm. ’17, p. 485 and ’27, p. 100. 
Syn: hamatus Hag. 
Length 37 mm. Expanse 47 mm. N. D. and B. C. to Me. and Ga. 
This is a blackish species of moderate size. The face is greenish below the 
interclypeal suture; blackish above. The front of the thorax is black with carinae 
narrowly yellow; narrow yellow humeral stripes interrupted above. The sides 
are blackish above to the roots of the fore wing; yellowish below with a rather 
broad and irregular stripe broadly overspreading the third lateral suture. Legs 
blackish paler at base and lined with yellowish externally. Abdomen blackish 
above with greenish reflections; yellowish on sides of three basal segments in- 
feriorly, and to a less extent on some of the middle segments. Apical segments 
black; 9 and 10 becoming a little pruinose with age. Appendages blackish. 
Common about “rivers and small lakes’? (Mtk. ’08, p. 70). 
The flight of this species is weak, low halting and indirect. It 
keeps to the cover of the sedges and tall grasses and perches on the 
sides of bare vertical stems and leaves. The female, attended by the 
male, oviposits commonly in submerged grass blades. Transformation 
occurs just above the water, mostly on vertical green stems. 
The nymph perches lightly on its long stilt-like legs with gills out- 
spread, but is singularly hard to see because of its protective coloration. 
