Feather dragonflies
| Feather dragonflies | ||||||||||||
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Blue feather dragonfly ( Platycnemis pennipes ). Spring dragonflies are very inconspicuous in the terrain. The widely spaced eyes are typical. |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Platycnemididae | ||||||||||||
| Jakobson & Bianchi , 1905 |
The feather dragonflies (Platycnemididae) are a family of the dragonflies (Zygoptera).
features
The feather dragonflies are very similar to their sister family Coenagrionidae and cannot be reliably differentiated from them worldwide on the basis of morphological features. The European species are very delicately built. The lower legs ( tibia ) of the middle and rear pairs of legs are widened and flat in males (only applies to the species of the subfamily Platycnemidinae). They are reminiscent of bird feathers, where the German name is derived from. The tibiae are also almost always long and densely spiked, the head is usually noticeably wide with widely spaced eyes. Most feather dragonflies are flowing water species.
Reproduction and development
To mate, the partners form a mating wheel , as is typical for dragonflies, and the subsequent egg-laying of the feather dragonflies also takes place in tandem flight. The egg of domestic species in water plants such as dough or pondweed inserted, wherein the female maximum dive with the abdomen below the water surface.
After two to three weeks, the larvae hatch, mostly in the bottom mud and feeding on other insect larvae or worms. The development is annual, overwintering occurs as the last larval stage.
Taxonomy, systematics, distribution
Sister group of the family Platycnemididae are the Coenagrionidae, with which they form the superfamily of the Coenagrionoidea. Various groups, which used to be considered as closely related families, are now included as subfamilies in a broad family Platycnemididae, such as the former family Disparoneuridae (syn. Caconeuridae). The subfamily of the Calicnemiinae, which used to be often differentiated, turned out to be paraphyletic and had to be abandoned in the traditional description.
About 400 species are known worldwide, divided into 40 genera. All species live in the Old World, with the main distribution in the tropics, preferably in rivers.
The following subfamilies and genera are distinguished:
Family Platycemididae
- Subfamily Platycnemidinae
- Proplatycnemis Kennedy , 1920
- Spesbona Dijkstra , 2013
- Matticnemis Dijkstra , 2013,
- Platycnemis Burmeister , 1839
- Pseudocopera Fraser , 1922
- Subfamily Allocnemidinae - Africa (except Arabicnemis )
- Allocnemis Selys , 1863
- Arabicnemis Waterston , 1984
- Mesocnemis Karsch , 1891
- Metacnemis Hagen , 1863
- Stenocnemis Karsch , 1899
- Subfamily Calicnemiinae Fraser , 1957 - Orientalis
- Asthenocnemis Lieftinck , 1949
- Calicnemia Beach , 1928
- Coeliccia Kirby , 1890
- Indocnemis Laidlaw , 1917
- Subfamily Disparoneurinae Fraser , 1957 - Africa, Asia, New Guinea, Australia
- Arabineura Schneider & Dumont , 1995
- Caconeura Kirby , 1890
- Disparoneura Selys , 1860
- Elattoneura Cowley , 1935
- Esme Fraser , 1922
- Melanoneura Fraser , 1922
- Nososticta Hagen , 1860
- Phylloneura Fraser , 1922
- Prodasineura Cowley , 1934
- Subfamily Idiocnemidinae - New Guinea, Solomon Islands
- Archboldargia Lieftinck , 1949
- Arrhenocnemis Lieftinck , 1933
- Cyanocnemis Lieftinck , 1949
- Hylaeargia Lieftinck , 1949
- Idiocnemis Selys , 1878
- Igneocnemis Hämäläinen , 1991
- Lieftinckia Kimmins , 1957
- Lochmaeocnemis Lieftinck , 1949
- Palaiargia Forester , 1903
- Papuargia Lieftinck , 1938
- Paramecocnemis Lieftinck , 1932
- Rhyacocnemis Lieftinck , 1956
- Risiocnemis Cowley , 1934
- Salomocnemis Lieftinck , 1987
- Torrenticnemis Lieftinck , 1949
- Subfamily Onychargiinae
- Onychargia Selys , 1865 - Orientalis
- Paracnemis Martin , 1902 - Madagascar
All European species belong to the genus Platycnemis . In Central Europe only the blue feather dragonfly ( Platycnemis pennipes ) is common, in south-western Europe the white feather dragonfly ( Platycnemis latipes ) and the orange-red feather dragonfly ( Platycnemis acutipennis ) can also be found. The Illyrian feather dragonfly ( Platycnemis nitidula ) is often regarded as a subspecies of P. acutipennis and occurs only in Greece and the offshore islands. The Maghreb feather dragonfly Platycnemis subdilatata is also widespread in North Africa, but so far there has only been one find on the island of Tenerife, which belongs to Spain .
literature
- A. Martens: The spring dragonflies of Europe (Platycnemididae) (= Die Neue Brehm-Bücherei . Volume 626). Westarp & Spektrum, Magdeburg / Heidelberg 1996, ISBN 3-89432-458-9 .
- H. Bellmann: Observe dragonflies - determine. Naturbuch, Augsburg 1993, ISBN 3-89440-107-9 .
- G. Jurzitza: The Kosmos dragonfly guide . Franckh-Kosmos Verlags GmbH & Co., Stuttgart 2000.
- H. Wildermuth, A. Martens: Pocket dictionary of dragonflies in Europe. Quelle & Meyer Verlag GmbH & Co., Wiebelsheim 2014, ISBN 978-3-494-01558-3 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Klaas-Douwe B. Dijkstra, Bechly, Gunter Bechly, Seth M. Bybee, Rory A. Dow, Henri J. Dumont, Gunther Fleck Rosser W. Garrison, Matti Hamalainen, Vincent J. Kalkman, Haruki Karube, Michael L. May , Albert Orr, Dennis R. Paulson, Andrew C. Rehn, Gunther Theischinger, Trueman, John WH Trueman, Jan van Tol, Natalia von Ellenrieder, Jessica Ware: The classification and diversity of dragonflies and damselflies (Odonata). In: Zootaxa. Volume 3703, No. 1, 2013, pp. 36-45, doi: 10.11646 / zootaxa.3703.1.9 .
- ↑ Klaas-Douwe Benediktus Dijkstra, Vincent J. Kalkman, Rory A. Dow, Frank R. Stokvis, Jan van Tol: Redefining the damselfly families: a comprehensive molecular phylogeny of Zygoptera (Odonata). In: Systematic Entomology. Volume 39, No. 1, 2014, pp. 68-96, doi: 10.1111 / syen.12035 .
Web links
- Family Platycnemididae . ADDO African Dragonflies and Damselflies Online.