Lestes dryas (Kirby, 1890)

Medium-sized (35-40 mm), this species has a bright metallic green body and black pterostigmas. It can be separated from the similar L. sponsa by greater robustness and above all by the shape of the abdominal appendages tips: the lower ones are, in males, curved towards the inside and flat. In females the ovipositor is longer than the 10^th abdominal segment.

In its genus this species is the earliest, in flight from May to September.

It can be found mostly in water bodies subject to extended dryness with abundant vegetation.

This species is widespread in the northern hemisphere, northern America included. It is rather localized in the Cuneo region. It can be observed both in the plain area habitats and in some alpine areas, with an extreme altitude of 1838 meters above sea level at Villazzo lake, in the Vermenagna valley.