139 

 Smith and Pritchard: Odonata 



Naladi 



Abdomen pale yellowish or greenish brown with ;i 

 double row of brownish clouds on do <>f tin- 



abdomen, 2 little transverse marks on dorsum of 

 segments 3 to 7; length when mature, 40 mm. Inoludlng 



gills grandis 



Abdomen pale with a narrow white -tripe above each 



lateral keel, and a black and a white S] ide of 



each segment just above white stripe; length 28-31 mm. 



californica 



Genus Lestes Leach, 1815 



The members of this genus are elongate damselflies 

 of rather large size. The adults rarely fly out over 

 open water but frequent the margins of ponds, bogs, 

 marshes, or other areas where there is emergent 

 vegetation. They fly low over the water and rest 

 frequently on plants, with wings half spread. They 

 are difficult to see when at rest, but because of 

 their slow flight they are easy to capture. 



They oviposit above the water line in standing 

 aquatic plants such as Typha, Scirpus, Sparyanium, 

 Eleocharis, and occasionally willow and grass. They 

 generally fly in tandem while the female oviposits. 



Fig. 4:64. Archilestes californica. a, ovipositing; b, oviposi- 

 tion scars one year old; c, oviposition scars two years old; 

 d, copulation; e, bork cut away showing eggs in cambium; f, egg 

 (Kennedy, 1915). 



her while she is on the wing, or if she is alighted, 

 as is the usual case, she flies up to meet him, when 

 he first seizes her head v;ith his feet, then bending 

 his abdomen. She usually copulates at once, which 

 is a lengthy process, the pair in copulation restlessly 

 wandering from place to place. 



"After many minutes in copulation they settle down 

 on a vertical willow twig from one-fourth to one-half 

 an inch in diameter overhanging some pool, or which 

 may be even three feet back from the water and at a 

 distance of from two to ten feet above the surface of 

 the water, and begin the tedious process of ovi- 

 position. The male holds the female during oviposi- 

 tion, ..." The female lays six eggs in each puncture 

 and may lay from seventy to one hundred eighty eggs. 

 In some cases the twigs may be girdled by egg punc- 

 tures. The eggs probably pass the winter in the 

 cambium and hatch in the spring. 



Key to California Species 



Ma les 



1. Ventral abdominal appendages strongly divergent (fig. 

 4:626); hind wing more than 35 mm. long (midwestern 

 and western U.S. to Colombia). . grandis (Rambur) 1842 

 — Ventral abdominal appendages parallel-sided; hind Fig. 4:65. Archilestes californica naiad, a, lateral view; b, 



wing less than 30 mm. long (fig. 4:62a) (Washington to labium; c, dorsal view; d, abdominal segment 10 (Kennedy, 

 Baja Californica californica MacLachlan 1895 1915). 



