Austrolestes

Austrolestes
Blue Ringtail (Austrolestes annulosus)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Odonata
Suborder:	Zygoptera
Family:	Lestidae
Genus:	Austrolestes Tillyard, 1913 [1]
Type species
Austrolestes cingulatus

Austrolestes is a genus of medium to large-sized damselflies in the family Lestidae. ^[2] Austrolestes damselflies sit with their wings folded completely back. ^[1] Males are usually bright blue and black, the females duller. Members of this genus are found in Australia, New Zealand and South Pacific islands.

Species

The genus Austrolestes includes the following species: ^[3]

Male	Female	Scientific name	Common Name	Distribution
		Austrolestes aleison Watson & Moulds, 1979	Western ringtail	south-western Australia
		Austrolestes analis (Rambur, 1842)	Slender ringtail	South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales and Tasmania.
		Austrolestes annulosus (Selys, 1862)	Blue ringtail	Australia
		Austrolestes aridus (Tillyard, 1908)	Inland ringtail	Australia
		Austrolestes cingulatus (Burmeister, 1839)	Metallic ringtail	Tasmania, Victoria and eastern New South Wales
		Austrolestes colensonis (White, 1846)	Blue damselfly, kekewai	New Zealand
		Austrolestes insularis Tillyard, 1913	Northern ringtail	northern Australia
		Austrolestes io (Selys, 1862)	Iota ringtail	south-western Australia and south-eastern Australia
		Austrolestes leda (Selys, 1862)	Wandering ringtail	eastern Australia
		Austrolestes minjerriba Watson, 1979	Dune ringtail	northern New South Wales and southern Queensland
		Austrolestes psyche (Hagen in Selys, 1862)	Cup ringtail	south-eastern Australia

Etymology

The genus name Austrolestes is derived from the latin word auster meaning south wind, hence south; and the damselfly genus Lestes , which is from the Greek word λῃστής meaning a robber. ^{[1] [4]} In 1913, Robin Tillyard described the genus Austrolestes as having characters similar to the very large genus Lestes, which, unlike Austrolestes, sit with their wings outspread. ^[1]

References

1. Tillyard, R.J. (1913). "On some new and rare Australian Agrionidae (Odonata)". Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales. 37 (1912): 404–479 [421]. Bibcode:1913PLSNS..37..404T. doi:10.5962/bhl.part.22352 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
2. "Genus Austrolestes Tillyard, 1913". Australian Faunal Directory . Australian Biological Resources Study. 2012. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
3. Martin Schorr; Martin Lindeboom; Dennis Paulson. "World Odonata List". University of Puget Sound. Archived from the original on 28 August 2010. Retrieved 11 August 2010.
4. Endersby, I. (2012). "Watson and Theischinger: the etymology of the dragonfly (Insecta: Odonata) names which they published". Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales. 145 (443 & 444): 34–53. doi:10.5962/p.146542. ISSN   0035-9173 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.

• Günther Theischinger; John Hawking (2006). The Complete Field Guide to Dragonflies of Australia. CSIRO Publishing. ISBN   0-643-09073-8.
• Annette Walker; et al. (2000). The Reed Handbook of Common New Zealand Insects. Raupo Publishing (NZ). ISBN   0-7900-0718-5.