Gomphidae

Last updated

Gomphidae
Temporal range: Cenomanian–Recent
Bladetail (Lindenia tetraphylla) male Macedonia.jpg
Bladetail, male, Lindenia tetraphylla
North Macedonia
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Odonata
Infraorder: Anisoptera
Superfamily: Gomphoidea
Rambur, 1842
Family: Gomphidae
Rambur, 1842 [1]
Genera

See text

The Gomphidae are a family of dragonflies commonly referred to as clubtails or club-tailed dragonflies. The family contains about 90 genera and 900 species found across North and South America, Europe, Asia, Australia, and Africa. [2] The name refers to the club-like widening of the end of the abdomen (abdominal segments 7 through 9). However, this club is usually less pronounced in females and is entirely absent in some species.

Contents

Etymology

The name is from Greek gomphos, "bolt, nail", for the shape of the insect's abdomen. [3]

Characteristics

Clubtails have small, widely separated compound eyes, a trait they share with the Petaluridae and with damselflies. The eyes are blue, turquoise, or green. The thorax in most species is pale with dark stripes, and the pattern of the stripes is often diagnostic. They lack the bright metallic colors of many dragonfly groups and are mostly cryptically colored to avoid detection and little difference between the sexes is seen. [4] Adults are usually from 40 to 70 mm (1.6 to 2.8 in) in length; there are 6 specific variations that are native to Africa alone, and vary from 33 to 40 mm (1.3 to 1.6 in) in length; there are also 97 varieties specific to North America as well. [5] [6]

Clubtails are fast-flying dragonflies with short flight seasons. They spend much time at rest, perching in a suitable position to dart forth to prey on flying insects. They tend to perch on the ground or on leaves with the abdomen sloping up and its tip curling down a little. Larger species may perch with a drooping abdomen or lie flat on a leaf. Another stance adopted by clubtails perching in the open is "obelisking", standing with the abdomen raised vertically, a posture adopted otherwise only by the skimmers. [4]

Most clubtails breed in streams, rivers, or lakes. The nymphs are unusual in having a flat mentum—part of the mouthparts—and their antennae have only four segments. They burrow in the sediment at the bottom of the water body, with the nymphs of the dragonhunter (Hagenius brevistylus) living among damp bark and leaf litter at the edge of the water. [7] Some larvae variations actually differ from this typical burrowing. Some will only come out during daytime, which differs from the predominant nighttime emergence. Some larvae also will lay on flat surfaces, whereas most larvae prefer a vertical-type surface. [8]

Taxonomy

Gomphidae has over 80 genera and includes more than 900 species, and is the only family in the superfamily Gomphoidea. [9] [10]

Genera

These genera belong to the family Gomphidae. [10]

Fossil genera

Fossil specimen of Cordulagomphus Cordulagomphus 01.JPG
Fossil specimen of Cordulagomphus

The following fossil families are also known in the Gomphoidea: [13]

References

  1. ↑ Rambur, Jules (1842). Histoire naturelle des insectes. Névroptères (in French). Paris: Librairie Encyclopédique de Roret. pp. 534 [24] – via Gallica.
  2. ↑ "New Hampshire PBS web article"
  3. ↑ "Etymology". National Museums Ireland. Retrieved 13 October 2024.
  4. 1 2 Paulson, Dennis (2009). Dragonflies and Damselflies of the West. Princeton University Press. p. 237. ISBN   978-1-4008-3294-1.
  5. ↑ "Gomphidae". cfb.unh.edu. Retrieved 2025-04-25.
  6. ↑ "Genus Diastatomma Burmeister, 1839". addo.adu.org.za. Archived from the original on 2020-11-29. Retrieved 2025-04-25.
  7. ↑ John L. Capinera (2008). Encyclopedia of Entomology. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 1245. ISBN   978-1-4020-6242-1.
  8. ↑ Abbott, J.C. (2009). "Odonata (Dragonflies and Damselflies)". Encyclopedia of Inland Waters. pp. 394–404. doi:10.1016/B978-012370626-3.00183-6. ISBN   978-0-12-370626-3.
  9. ↑ Dijkstra, Klaas-Douwe B.; Bechly, Günter; Bybee, Seth M.; Dow, Rory A.; Dumont, Henri J.; Fleck, Günther; Garrison, Rosser W.; Hämäläinen, Matti; Kalkman, Vincent J.; Karube, Haruki; May, Michael L.; Orr, Albert G.; Paulson, Dennis R.; Rehn, Andrew C.; Theischinger, Günther; Trueman, John W.H.; Van Tol, Jan; von Ellenrieder, Natalia; Ware, Jessica (2013). "The classification and diversity of dragonflies and damselflies (Odonata). In: Zhang, Z.-Q. (Ed.) Animal Biodiversity: An Outline of Higher-level Classification and Survey of Taxonomic Richness (Addenda 2013)". Zootaxa. 3703 (1): 36–45. doi: 10.11646/zootaxa.3703.1.9 . hdl: 10072/61365 . ISSN   1175-5334.
  10. 1 2 Paulson, D.; Schorr, M.; Abbott, J.; Bota-Sierra, C.; Deliry, C.; Dijkstra, K.-D.; Lozano, F. "World Odonata List". OdonataCentral, University of Alabama.
  11. ↑ Archibald, S. Bruce; Cannings, Robert A. (2019-10-21). "Fossil dragonflies (Odonata: Anisoptera) from the early Eocene Okanagan Highlands, western North America". The Canadian Entomologist. 151 (6): 783–816. doi:10.4039/tce.2019.61. ISSN   0008-347X. Archived from the original on 2025-05-09.
  12. ↑ Bechly, Günter (2010). "Additions to the fossil dragonfly fauna from the Lower Cretaceous Crato Formation of Brazil (Insecta: Odonata)". Palaeodiversity. 3: Supplement: 11–77.
  13. 1 2 Huang, Diying; Fu, Yanzhe; Nel, André (2019-03-01). "A possible true Mesozoic Gomphidae s. str. from the mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber (Odonata: Anisoptera)". Cretaceous Research. 95: 341–345. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2018.11.001. ISSN   0195-6671.
  14. ↑ Nel, André; Huang, Diying (2015-10-02). "A new family of 'libelluloid' dragonflies from the Middle Jurassic of Daohugou, northeastern China (Odonata: Anisoptera: Cavilabiata)". Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology. 39 (4): 525–529. doi:10.1080/03115518.2015.1050316. ISSN   0311-5518.
  15. ↑ Zheng, Daran; Nel, André; Chang, Su-Chin; Jarzembowski, Edmund A.; Zhang, Haichun; Wang, Bo (2018-08-09). "A well-preserved true dragonfly (Anisoptera: Gomphides: Burmagomphidae fam. nov.) from Cretaceous Burmese amber". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 16 (10): 881–889. doi:10.1080/14772019.2017.1365100. ISSN   1477-2019.
  16. ↑ Azar, Dany; Nel, André (2023-08-01). "Libanogomphidae, a new extraordinary dragonfly family from the Upper Cretaceous of Lebanon (Odonata, Anisoptera)". Cretaceous Research. 148: 105501. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2023.105501. ISSN   0195-6671.
  17. ↑ Zheng, Daran; Jiang, Tian; Nel, André; Jarzembowski, Edmund A.; Chang, Su-Chin; Zhang, Haichun; Wang, Bo (2018-12-01). "Paraburmagomphidae fam. nov., a new gomphid dragonfly family (Odonata: Anisoptera) from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber". Cretaceous Research. 92: 214–219. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2018.08.017. ISSN   0195-6671.
  18. ↑ University~mkk24@njit.edu, Manpreet Kaur Kohli~Rutgers; University~jware@amnh.org, Jessica L. Ware~Rutgers; Bechly~Eberhard-Karls-University~guenter.bechly@smns-bw.de, Günter (2016-03-18). "How to date a dragonfly: Fossil calibrations for odonates". Palaeontologia Electronica. Retrieved 2025-08-20.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.