Brachythemis

Brachythemis
Ditch jewel (Brachythemis contaminata) female
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Odonata
Infraorder:	Anisoptera
Family:	Libellulidae
Subfamily:	Sympetrinae
Genus:	Brachythemis Brauer, 1868
Type species
Libellula contaminata Fabricius, 1793 [1]

Brachythemis is a genus of dragonflies in the family Libellulidae. They are commonly known as groundlings.

Species

The genus contains the following species: ^[2]

Male	Female	Scientific name	Common Name	Distribution
		Brachythemis contaminata (Fabricius, 1793)	ditch jewel [3]	Asia
		Brachythemis fuscopalliata (Selys, 1887)	dark-winged groundling [4]	Iran, Iraq, Israel, Syria, and Turkey.
		Brachythemis impartita (Karsch, 1890)	northern banded groundling [5]	southern Europe and the Middle East.
		Brachythemis lacustris (Kirby, 1889)	red groundling [6]	Angola, Botswana, Burkina Faso, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and possibly Burundi.
		Brachythemis leucosticta (Burmeister, 1839)	banded groundling [7]	Eastern and central Africa and Madagascar.
		Brachythemis wilsoni Pinhey, 1952	Wilson's groundling [8]	Burkina Faso, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Sudan, Togo, Uganda, possibly Botswana, and possibly Kenya

Taxonomy

The banded groundling is one of Africa's most familiar and abundant dragonflies. It has only recently been identified as being two separate species, B. leucosticta and the new taxon B. impartita. ^[9]

References

1. "Genus Brachythemis Brauer, 1868 groundlings". African Dragonflies and Damselflies Online. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
2. 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.
3. Subramanian, K. A. (2005). Dragonflies and Damselflies of Peninsular India (PDF).
4. Boudot, J.-P. (2006). "Brachythemis fuscopalliata". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2006: e.T2995A9529988. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2006.RLTS.T2995A9529988.en .
5. "Checklist, English common names". DragonflyPix.com. Archived from the original on 4 December 2012. Retrieved 5 August 2010.
6. Clausnitzer, V.; Suhling, F.; Dijkstra, K.-D.B. (2016). "Brachythemis lacustris". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2016: e.T59821A84483877. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T59821A84483877.en .
7. Clausnitzer, V.; Schneider, W.; Dijkstra, K.-D.B.; Suhling, F. (2016). "Brachythemis leucosticta". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2016: e.T59822A84484558. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T59822A84484558.en .
8. Clausnitzer, V.; Kipping, J. & Dijkstra, K.-D.B. (2010). "Brachythemis wilsoni". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2010: e.T59823A12069785. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2010-3.RLTS.T59823A12069785.en .
9. Klaas-Douwe B. D. & N. Matushkina (2009). "Kindred spirits: "Brachythemis leucosticta", Africa's most familiar dragonfly, consists of two species" (PDF). International Journal of Odonatology. 12 (2). ISSN   1388-7890 . Retrieved 4 December 2010.