Neurothemis decora | |
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Neurothemis decora from New Guinea. Male | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Odonata |
Infraorder: | Anisoptera |
Family: | Libellulidae |
Genus: | Neurothemis |
Species: | N. decora |
Binomial name | |
Neurothemis decora (Kaup in Brauer, 1866) | |
Neurothemis decora is a species of dragonfly in the family Libellulidae.
This species is present in New Guinea. [1]
Odonata is an order of flying insects that includes the dragonflies and damselflies.
A dragonfly is a flying insect belonging to the infraorder Anisoptera below the order Odonata. About 3,000 extant species of true dragonflies are known. Most are tropical, with fewer species in temperate regions. Loss of wetland habitat threatens dragonfly populations around the world. Adult dragonflies are characterized by a pair of large, multifaceted, compound eyes, two pairs of strong, transparent wings, sometimes with coloured patches, and an elongated body. Many dragonflies have brilliant iridescent or metallic colours produced by structural coloration, making them conspicuous in flight. An adult dragonfly's compound eyes have nearly 24,000 ommatidia each.
Damselflies are flying insects of the suborder Zygoptera in the order Odonata. They are similar to dragonflies but are smaller and have slimmer bodies. Most species fold the wings along the body when at rest, unlike dragonflies which hold the wings flat and away from the body. An ancient group, damselflies have existed since at least the Lower Permian beginning about 299 million years ago, and are found on every continent except Antarctica.
The Aeshnidae, also called aeshnids, hawkers, or darners, is a family of dragonflies. The family includes the largest dragonflies found in North America and Europe and among the largest dragonflies on the planet.
The petaltails of the family Petaluridae are among the most ancient of the extant true dragonflies, having fossil members from as early as the Jurassic.
Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge is a United States National Wildlife Refuge located in two separate sections in central Chaves County, New Mexico, United States, a few miles northeast of the city of Roswell. Both sections lie on the banks of the Pecos River. The refuge was established in 1937 to provide habitat for migratory birds such as the sandhill crane and the snow goose, but it is also notable for rare native fish and the over 90 species of dragonflies and damselflies that inhabit the refuge.
Cynthia Evelyn Longfield was an Anglo-Irish entomologist and explorer and the first woman member of the Entomological Society. She was an expert on the dragonfly and an explorer. She was called "Madame Dragonfly" for her extensive work. She was passionately fond of dragonflies and her dominant area of interest was natural history. She travelled extensively and published The Dragonflies of the British Isles in 1937. She worked as a research associate at the Natural History Museum, London. Longfield was the expert on the dragonflies at the museum, researching particularly African species.
In biology, exuviae are the remains of an exoskeleton and related structures that are left after ecdysozoans have moulted. The exuviae of an animal can be important to biologists as they can often be used to identify the species of the animal and even its sex.
The emperor dragonfly or blue emperor is a large species of hawker dragonfly of the family Aeshnidae, averaging 78 millimetres (3.1 in) in length. The generic name Anax is from the ancient Greek ἄναξ, "lord"; the specific epithet imperator is the Latin for "emperor", from imperare, to command.
Corduliidae, also knowns as the emeralds, emerald dragonflies, or green-eyed skimmers, is a family of dragonflies. These dragonflies are usually black or dark brown with areas of metallic green or yellow, and most of them have large, emerald-green eyes. The larvae are black, hairy-looking, and usually semiaquatic. This family include species called "baskettails", "emeralds", "sundragons", "shadowdragons", and "boghaunters". They are not uncommon and are found nearly worldwide, but some individual species are quite rare. Hine's emerald dragonfly, for example, is an endangered species in the United States.
The southern hawker or blue hawker is a species of hawker dragonfly.
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, and Australia. The name refers to the club-like widening of the end of the abdomen. However, this club is usually less pronounced in females and is entirely absent in some species.
Brachytron is a monotypic genus of European dragonfly of the family Aeshnidae containing the hairy dragonfly, also known as the hairy hawker or spring hawker.
Somatochlora, or the striped emeralds, is a genus of dragonflies in the family Corduliidae with 42 described species found across the Northern Hemisphere.
Lestes is a genus of damselfly in the family Lestidae. The family hold their wings at about 45 degrees to the body when resting. This distinguishes them from most other species of damselflies which hold the wings along, and parallel to, the body when at rest.
The Odonatoptera are a superorder of ancient winged insects, placed in the probably paraphyletic group Palaeoptera. The dragonflies and damselflies are the only living members of this group, which was far more diverse in the late Paleozoic and contained gigantic species, including the griffinflies of the order Meganisoptera. This lineage dates back at least to the Bashkirian, not quite 320 million years ago.
The Synthemistidae are the family of dragonflies commonly known as tigertails, or sometimes called southern emeralds. This family is sometimes treated as a subfamily of Corduliidae. This is an ancient dragonfly family, with some species occurring in Australia and New Guinea. Most species are small in size and have narrow abdomens. Their nymphs are bottom dwellers, and resist droughts by burying themselves very deeply. Synthemistid dragonflies frequently prefer marshy areas, as well as fast-flowing streams. The family Synthemistidae is sometimes called Synthemidae.
Chalcolestes viridis, formerly Lestes viridis, is a damselfly of the family Lestidae. It has a metallic green body and at rest it holds its wings away from its body. Its common name is the willow emerald damselfly, the green emerald damselfly, or the western willow spreadwing. It has an elongated abdomen and pale brown spots on its wings and resides in areas of still water with overhanging trees.