Aeshna

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Aeshna
Temporal range: Late Eocene to present
Aeshna cyanea female 1.jpg
Southern hawker (Aeshna cyanea)
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Odonata
Infraorder: Anisoptera
Family: Aeshnidae
Subfamily: Aeshninae
Genus: Aeshna
Fabricius, 1775 [1]
Species

See text

A. petalura female laying eggs
Phulchowki, Nepal Aeshna petalura female laying eggs Phulchowki.jpg
A. petalura female laying eggs
Phulchowki, Nepal
A. petalura female laying eggs
Phulchowki, Nepal Aeshna petalura female laying eggs Phulchowki head.jpg
A. petalura female laying eggs
Phulchowki, Nepal

Aeshna, [2] or the mosaic darners, is a genus of dragonflies from the family Aeshnidae. Species within this genus are generally known as "hawkers" (Old World) or "darners" (New World).

Contents

Description

These are relatively large dragonflies. Their thoraces and abdomens are brown in color, with blue or yellow stripes or spots on the thorax, and yellow, blue or green spots on the abdomen.

Natalia von Ellenrieder's 2003 paper demonstrated that the Holarctic and Neotropical species placed in this genus did not share a common ancestor, and proposed the latter be placed in the genus Rhionaeschna .

The name Aeshna was coined by the Danish entomologist Fabricius in the 18th century. The name may have resulted from a printer's error in spelling the Greek Aechma, "a spear". [3] The spelling Aeschna has been intermittently used over a period of time, but is now abandoned for the original name Aeshna. However, derived genus names (such as Rhionaeschna ) retain the 'sch' spelling, as this is how they were first cited.

Species

Many species formerly included in Aeshna have been split into other genera, including Afroaeschna , Andaeschna , Pinheyschna , Rhionaeschna , and Zosteraeschna . [4]

The genus Aeshna includes these species: [4]

Fossil species

Aeshna andancensis holotype wing Aeshna andancensis holotype MNHN.F.R10403 part side direct lighting.jpg
Aeshna andancensis holotype wing

Note that many fossil species in the genus were named at a time when many extant species now included in other genera were included in Aeshna. [4] The list of valid fossil species is based on Nel et al (2022), with species of uncertain validity noted: [10] [11]

References

  1. Fabricius, J.C. (1775). "V. Vnogata". Systema Entomologiae, sistens Insectorum Classes, Ordines, Genera, Species, adiectis Synonymis, Locis, Descriptionibus, Observationibus (in Latin). Flensburg & Leipzig: Kortius. pp. 420–426 [424]. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.36510.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Checklist, English common names". DragonflyPix.com. Archived from the original on 4 December 2012. Retrieved 5 August 2010.
  3. "Dragonflies of the Family Aeshnidae in British Columbia" (PDF). Retrieved 25 August 2009.[ permanent dead link ]
  4. 1 2 3 Paulson, D.; Schorr, M.; Abbott, J.; Bota-Sierra, C.; Deliry, C.; Dijkstra, K.-D.; Lozano, F. "World Odonata List". OdonataCentral, University of Alabama.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Checklist of UK Species". British Dragonfly Society. Archived from the original on 18 September 2012. Retrieved 5 August 2010.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 "North American Odonata". University of Puget Sound. 2009. Archived from the original on 11 July 2010. Retrieved 5 August 2010.
  7. Onishko, V.V.; Kosterin, O.E.; Blinov, A.G.; Sukhikh, I.S.; Ogunleye, A.T.; Schröter, A. (2022). "Aeshna soneharai Asahina, 1988, stat. rev., bona species – an overlooked member of the European fauna? (Odonata: Aeshnidae)". Odonatologica. 51 (1–2): 111–145. doi:10.60024/odon.v51i1-2.a6 . Retrieved 25 April 2025.
  8. "Subarctic Darner". Montana Field Guide. Archived from the original on 28 August 2010. Retrieved 13 September 2010.
  9. von Ellenrieder, N.; Paulson, D. (2006). "Aeshna williamsoniana". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2006: e.T564A13063036. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2006.RLTS.T564A13063036.en . Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  10. Nel, A.; Martínez-Delclòs, X.; Escuillé, F.; Brisac, P. (1994). "Les Aeshnidae fossiles: Etat actuel des connaissances (Odonata, Anisoptera)". Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie, Abhandlungen. 194 (2/3): 143–186. doi:10.1127/njgpa/194/1994/143. S2CID   247527646 . Retrieved 24 April 2025.
  11. Nel, Andre; Garrouste, Romain; Kaya, Mustafa; Licht, Alexis; Legal, Stéphane; Coster, Pauline (2024-02-01). "The second oldest representative of the genus Aeshna (Odonata: Aeshnidae) found in the lowermost Oligocene of Luberon (France) and revealed by UV light". Historical Biology. 36 (2): 261–265. doi:10.1080/08912963.2022.2157274. ISSN   0891-2963.
  12. 1 2 Li, Yong-jun; Nel, André; Ren, Dong; Zhang, Bing-lan; Pang, Hong (December 2011). "New discoveries of Neogene hawker dragonflies (Insecta, Odonata, Aeshnidae) from Shandong province in china". Zoosystema. 33 (4): 577–590. doi:10.5252/z2011n4a8. ISSN   1280-9551.
  13. "PBDB Taxon". paleobiodb.org. Retrieved 2025-08-21.
  14. Petrulevicius, Julian F.; Jarzembowski, Edmund A. (2005-04-21). "New fossil Odonata from the European Cenozoic (Insecta: Odonata: Thaumatoneuridae, Aeshnidae, ?Idionychidae, Libellulidae)" . Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie - Abhandlungen: 343–380. doi:10.1127/njgpa/235/2005/343.
  15. Prokop, Jakub; Pecharová, Martina; Nel, André (2016-10-09). "New Cenozoic dragonflies from the Most Basin and Středohoří Complex volcanic area (Czech Republic, Germany)" . Journal of Natural History. 50 (37–38): 2311–2326. doi:10.1080/00222933.2016.1193648. ISSN   0022-2933.