Neopetalia punctata
| Neopetalia punctata | ||||||||||||
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Image of the larva of Neopetalia punctata |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name of the family | ||||||||||||
| Neopetaliidae | ||||||||||||
| Tillyard & Fraser , 1940 | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the genus | ||||||||||||
| Neopetalia | ||||||||||||
| Cowley , 1934 | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the species | ||||||||||||
| Neopetalia punctata | ||||||||||||
| ( Hagen in Selys, 1854) |
Neopetalia punctata is the only kind of dragonflies - Family Neopetaliidae. It is endemic to southern Chile and smaller areas in southwest Argentina .
features
Construction of the Imago
Adult, sexually mature ( Imago ) Neopetalia punctata reach between 57 and 58 millimeters in length and are therefore considered to be of medium size. The forehead appears square and yellowish when viewed from the top. The complex eyes are longer than they are wide and only meet at one point on the top of the head. The brown chest ( thorax ) is drawn with yellowish dots and lines and covered with white, silky hair. The males have keels on the tibia .
The reddish brown abdomen is marked with paired yellow dots on the upper side. On the segments five with eight for the males and two with eight for the females, there are small black tufts of hair on the underside towards the rear tip. In the females, the sternum of the tenth segment has grown together to form a large round disc that is semi-transparent and completely covers the posterior abdominal appendages seen from below. The cerci are cylindrical and straight in the females, and flat in the males and curve towards the center. The unpaired dorsal plate of the eleventh abdominal segment, the so-called epiproct , is three-lobed.
The front of the two hamuli , interlocking structures on the genitals of the males for mating, is U-shaped, while the rear has a bilobed tip. In females, the genitals consist of the short vulvar lamina on the eighth segment and two paired gonapophyses on the ninth segment. The front pair is shaped like a leaf and the rear, a little further inside, is cylindrical.
wing
The wings are transparent or slightly brownish and have five red spots. These spots are on the wing leading edge. The first at the base of the wing, the second halfway between the base and the nodus , the third at the nodus, and one at the beginning and one at the end of the bright yellow wing mark ( pterostigma ).
The sectors of the arculus are separated and the wing triangle consists of two cells. The super triangle above is free of veins. The discodial field widens towards the edge of the wing . In the hind wing the anal loop is small and rounded. In males, the anal triangle consists of three cells in the hind wing.
Construction of the larva
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Adult larvae of the Neopetalia punctata reach lengths between 35.0 and 38.0 millimeters, with the abdomen making up 23.0 to 24.5 millimeters.
The antennas consist of six segments, the third segment being about 2.2 times longer than the second. The prementum is about three times longer than it is wide at the base. Its underside as well as the sides of the upper side are covered with bristles. There are also one to three bristles on each side, which are missing on the lip switch . But there are side bristles that get longer towards the front tip. The sturdy hook at the end of the lip switch is longer than its side edge. Of the eight to nine teeth, three can be found on the upper button and five to six on the middle side edge. Here the buttons have a two-lobed shape. On the lower part of the stylus, the tooth-like structures are much less pronounced and consist of around 30 small notches.
Halfway along the width of the epaulettes is only about 60% of the length. A tuft of hair made of bristles separates them from the leading edge of the hardened part of the tergum, the so-called pronotum . The seven to seven and a half millimeters measuring wing sheaths extend to the fourth segment of the abdomen. On the inside, their edges run parallel, while on the outside they are slightly convex. The legs are covered with hairs.
The eight to eight and a half millimeters wide abdomen is covered with small tufts of hair on the rear edges of the first nine segments, both on the upper side and on the side. The hairs are longest on segments two to five, whereas they are stunted on the eighth and ninth segments. On the belly side, the abdomen is covered with small bristles. In addition, there is a lighter spot in the middle on the top of all segments. On the first eight segments, this is about a third to half as long and wide as the respective segment is long. From the ninth segment, these dimensions extend to the full segment length. On the eighth and ninth segments, there are small, backward-pointing tips on the sides. The paired side plates (ventrolateral plates) of the eleventh abdominal segment ( paraproct ) measure 2.2 millimeters.
Way of life
habitat
While the adults fly in the morning and in the evening along forest roads at a height of one to three meters, during the day they prefer the vicinity of seepage springs and flight heights between five and 15 meters. They are most active shortly after clouds have passed the sun. In the case of prolonged sunshine, however, they sit very high in the vegetation. In flight they reach about the speed of a runner.
The larvae live in small bodies of water and small streams with a muddy bottom. They dig in so far that only the eyes look out.
nutrition
The larvae prefer to feed on mayflies , which they capture from ambush.
Reproduction
When laying eggs, the female hovers over the water and then briefly dips the tip of the abdomen. It is believed that the female collects many eggs in her ovipositor and then lays them together.
Spread and time of flight
The species occurs from sea level to 1800 meters and flies between mid-October and the end of January.
Protection status
Due to the inadequate data situation, Neopetalia punctata has not yet been assigned a protection status. However, it is assumed that the species also occurs between the currently known sites in natural areas, such as the Nahuelbuta , Chiloé , and Lanín national parks .
Naming
Scientific names
The species was originally described by Hagen as Petalia punctata , based on a male he himself collected in Chile. Since the genus name Petalia was used earlier for a bat genus, J. Cowley changed the name to Neopetalia punctata in 1934 . After the bat genus name was abolished in 1929 by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature in favor of Nycteris and the name was therefore available again, Erich Schmidt suggested reverting to the original name, which, however, did not prevail.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ A b c d e Garrison, von Ellenrieder , Louton: Dragonfly Genera of the New World. 133f edition. The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore 2006, ISBN 0-8018-8446-2 .
- ↑ a b c d e Carle, Louton: The Larva of Neopetalia punctata and establishment of Austropetaliidae Fam. Nov. (Odonata) . In: Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington . 91, No. 1, 1994, pp. 147-155.
- ^ Fraser: Revision of the Fissilabioidea . In: Memoirs of the Indian Museum . 9, No. 6, 1932, pp. 215-217.
- ↑ by Ellenrieder & Paulson: Neopetalia punctata. In: IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2010.4. IUCN, accessed March 1, 2011 .
- ↑ Hagen: Synopsis de Gomphines . In: Selys (ed.): Bulletin de l'Académie royale de Belgique . tape 21 , no. 2 , 1854, p. 90 .
- ^ Cowley: Changes in the Generic Names of the Odonata . In: Entomologist . 67, 1934, p. 201.
- ↑ Schmidt: Petularidae, Gomphidae and Petaliidae from Chile . In: Archives for Natural History . 10, No. 2, 1941, p. 246.