Royal dragonflies

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Royal dragonflies
Great royal dragonfly (Anax imperator), ♂

Great royal dragonfly ( Anax imperator ), ♂

Systematics
Subclass : Flying insects (Pterygota)
Order : Dragonflies (Odonata)
Subordination : Dragonflies (Anisoptera)
Superfamily : Aeshnoidea
Family : Noble dragonflies (Aeshnidae)
Genre : Royal dragonflies
Scientific name
Anax
Leach , 1815

The King dragonflies ( Anax , from ancient Greek ἄναξ anax "chieftain, [army] leader, Mr. [shear]") are a genus of dragonfly from the family of aeshnidae .

Description and characteristics

Anax species are large noble dragonflies. They are predominantly blue or green in color, with colorless, transparent (hyaline) wings, these rarely tinged a little brown or yellow. The trunk section (thorax) is usually not streaked dark. In some species (outside Europe) the abdomen is colored red, or it is patterned blue, green and brown. The genus is very well characterized by some morphological features, especially in the male sex. The inner rear corner (anal angle) of the rear wing is rounded in the male (as in the female), not angular as in almost all other Aeshnidae (further exception: Andaeschna ). In the wing veins the adjacent anal triangle of the male has no reinforced posterior vein; this means that a detached anal triangle cannot be seen. On the abdomen, the first and second segments are broad and massive, so that it appears little separated from the thorax; the auricles or auricles (small, jagged bulges on the sides) are completely absent. The unpaired, lower process of the male copulation apparatus (epiproct) at the tip of the abdomen is always shortened, mostly blunted in front.

The genus can also be distinguished from related genera in both sexes by some features of the wing veins . The curved radius switch core (Rs) does not reach the edge of the wing. At the arculus (a conspicuous structure near the wing base, in which the median vein branches off at an angle from the radial and median veins united at the wing base), all veins branch off in the basal section. The second and third branches of the radius (R2 and R3) are brought closer together at the level of the apex of the pterostigma by an arcuate bend.

The larvae have remarkably long legs and a greatly elongated labium of the trap mask . The sixth abdominal segment is usually not spiked on the side.

distribution

The genus Anax is widespread almost worldwide, especially in the tropics of the Old and New World (pantropical), with a main spread in East Asia. Few species reach the temperate (moderate) latitudes. Some species, especially Anax imperator and Anax ephippiger, are very widespread and reach both the northern and southern temperate latitudes. There are five species in the New World (North and South America) and four in Australia.

Five species have been recorded in Europe, one of which, the North American Anax junius, only flown in as a random visitor in 1998 to Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly (which shows that the animals can fly across the Atlantic). Also Anax immaculifrons only has an isolated detection of the island of Karpathos in the Aegean (here with Reproduction evidence). The species Anax imperator and Anax parthenope were previously only widespread in southern and southern Central Europe, but are currently spreading strongly to the north. Anax ephippiger (formerly Heminanax ) lives mainly in the subtropics and only sporadically thrusts north. The last four species mentioned (without Anax junius ) are also the only representatives of the genus in Turkey.

Phylogeny and Systematics

The genus Anax is morphologically well characterized and its system has hardly been disputed. Exceptions are the two species Anax ephippiger and Anax papuensis , for which a separate genus Hemianax was previously distinguished, which was differentiated according to some features of the wing veins and the shape of the male epiproct. The independence of the genus was questioned by Günther Peters, and Hemianax was synonymous with Anax , in which most of the editors followed him, even if some consider the step premature. Both genera, if differentiated, are combined in a tribe Anactini . The association between Anax and Hemianax has always been confirmed, even based on genetic data. Too few taxa were tested for reliable statements about the inner systematics (and thus a possible sister group relationship) and the position of the Anactini in relation to the other species of the subfamily.

species

According to the list in the World List of Odonata, the genus comprises 31 species.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b RR Askew: The Dragonflies of Europe. Harley Books, Colchester GB, 1988. ISBN 0-946589-10-0
  2. ^ A b Rosser W. Garrison, Natalia von Ellenrieder, Jerry A. Louton: Dragonfly Genera of the New World. An illustrated and annotated key to the Anisoptera. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore 2006. ISBN 0-8018-8446-2
  3. ↑ a b c Günther Peters (2000): Unknown acquaintances: the Anax species in Europe (Odonata: Aeshnidae). Libellula 19 (1/2): 53-64.
  4. ^ VJ Kalkman (2006): Key to the dragonflies of Turkey, including species known from Greece, Bulgaria, Lebanon, Syria, the Trans-Caucasus and Iran. Brachytron 10 (1): 3-82.
  5. ↑ K.-DB Dijkstra & VJ Kalkman (2012): Phylogeny, classification and taxonomy of European dragonflies and damselflies (Odonata): a review. Organisms Diversity & Evolution 12: 209-227. doi: 10.1007 / s13127-012-0080-8
  6. ↑ Jean-Pierre Boudot (2013): Hemianax versus Anax ephippiger (Burmeister, 1839) (Odonata: Anisoptera: Aeshnidae). Martinia 29 (2): 3-11.
  7. ↑ Natalia von Ellenrieder (2002): A phylogenetic analysis of the extant Aeshnidae (Odonata: Anisoptera). Systematic Entomology 27: 437-467.
  8. ↑ Frank Louis Carle, Karl M. Kjer, Michael L. May (2015): A molecular phylogeny and classification of Anisoptera (Odonata). Arthropod Systematics & Phylogeny 73 (2): 281-301. PDF
  9. ^ World Odonata List , edited by Martin Schorr and Dennis Paulson. Last revision: August 6, 2018.
  10. ↑ a b Natalia von Ellenrieder (2001): Species composition and distribution patterns of the Argentinian Aeshnidae (Odonata: Anisoptera). Revista de la Sociedad Entomológica Argentina 60 (1-4): 39-60.
  11. ^ A b John C. Abbott (2001): Distribution of Dragonflies and Damselflies (Odonata) in Texas. Transactions of the American Entomological Society 127 (2): 189-228.
  12. ↑ a b c d e f DG Chelmick (1999): Larvae of the genus Anax in Africa (Anisoptera: Aeshnidae). Odonatologica 28 (3): 209-218.
  13. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Andreas Martens, André Günther, Frank Suhling (2012): Diversity in mate-guarding types within the genus Anax (Odonata: Aeshnidae). Libellula Supplement 12: 113-122.
  14. ↑ a b c d e Malte Seehausen (2017): Survey of Odonata from Timor Island, with description of the female of Anax georgius (Odonata: Aeshnidae). IDF Journal of the International Dragonfly Fund 20: 1-34.
  15. ↑ Clausnitzer, V. 2017. Anax gladiator. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2017 , accessed August 7, 2018.
  16. ^ A b AG Orr & VJ Kalkman (2015): Field Guide to the dragonflies of New Guinea. Brachytron 17: 3-154.
  17. ↑ Clarence Hamilton Kennedy (1934): Anax Piraticus a New Species of Dragonfly (Odonata) from Guam. Annals of the Entomological Society of America 27 (2): 346-356. doi: 10.1093 / aesa / 27.2.346
  18. ↑ OH. Swezey & FX Williams (1942): Insects of Guam I. Odonata, Dragonflies of Guam. Bernice P. Bishop Museum Bulletin 172: 3-6. download