Lestes Leach in Brewster, 1815

Long, slender damselflies, usually with blue and black markings, adults perch at an angle on stems and twigs (Fig. 47). Four species are known in Ecuador. No single reference addresses the South American species of Lestes; for identification of the Ecuador species, we recommend consulting Westfall & May (2006), Heckman (2008) and the papers in which the original species descriptions appeared as listed below. Lestes breed in vegetated pools, ponds and small lakes, occasionally in very slow areas of sluggish streams.