Somatochlora margarita

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Somatochlora margarita
Systematics
Subordination : Dragonflies (Anisoptera)
Superfamily : Libelluloidea
Family : Hawk dragonflies (Corduliidae)
Subfamily : Corduliinae
Genre : Emerald Dragonflies ( Somatochlora )
Type : Somatochlora margarita
Scientific name
Somatochlora margarita
Donnelly , 1962

Somatochlora margarita is a type of dragonfly from the family of the falcon dragonflies (Corduliidae), which belong to the large dragonflies (Anisoptera). The larval stage is not yet known.

features

The abdomen (abdomen) of the male of Somatochlora margarita measures 31.5 to 34 millimeters. Those of the females are slightly larger and measure 36 to 41 millimeters. Except for the first two dark brown segments , the abdomen has a metallic green primer. There is also a characteristic light yellow drawing, which is composed as follows. On the first segment, the rear edges of the segment are yellowish on the sides. There is also a line on the top. Striking on the second segment of the males is a triangle-like spot directly in front of the keel that crosses the segment, which is itself marked by a light line. At the rear end of the segment there are also two smaller triangular-like spots. Another smaller spot is on the posterior genital lobe . The color of the second segment in the females is dominated by a broad triangular spot that tapers upwards from the belly side and ends on the top in two lines that do not reach each other. The intersegmental skin at the transition to the third segment is light yellow in both sexes. There is a triangular spot on the sides and the front edges of the tergites are light yellowish on the underside . There are dark spots on the front of the pages on the following segments. The last segment with drawing is the eighth. This pattern is darker in the female than in the male. The dark brown abdominal appendages of the males are 3.5 millimeters longer than the ninth and tenth segments together. Those of the females measure two millimeters. While the lower abdominal appendages, which is triangular, the upper ones run parallel to the middle and then approach to their tips.

The foremost segment of the thorax , the so-called prothorax, is dark brown on the upper and lower sides and a little lighter on the sides. Its anterior and posterior lobes are light. The adjoining pterothorax is also dark brown and shimmers green. The sides are overall lighter and, like the abdomen, have a yellowish pattern. This is made up of the front half of the dorsal keel, one about a half-millimeter-long spot on the Mes episternum , long a five millimeter and a half millimeter wide strips on the Mes epimeron , an equally wide on the Metepimeron and a little below the Metastigma located Stripes. In addition, the indentations in front of and between the wings are yellowish.

The wings are transparent. The membranula is smoky brown and the two and a half millimeters long wing mark ( pterostigma ) is dark brownish like some parts of the wing nerve. Only the Costa loader is yellowish. The pair of hind wings in the males is between 32 and 36 millimeters long. The wings of the females are slightly larger and reach between 34.5 and 37 millimeters. There are seven to nine ante nodal veins in the front wing of the animals and five in the rear wing. The ratio is reversed for the PostNoda loaders. Here there are four to six in the front wing and six to nine in the rear wing. Between M 1 and M 1a there are between 8 and 16 cells in the forewing of the males and between 10 and 16 in the hind wing. The females tend to have more cells, the number is between 13 and 19, or 13 and 17 cells.

The dark legs are light on the rear upper side of the hip ( coxa ) and on the thigh ring (trochanter) of the front pair of legs . The femora become lighter on the rear side downwards. There are also small teeth here, which are arranged in two rows on the first two pairs of legs and in six rows on the back pair of legs.

The head of Somatochlora margarita is light yellow in the area of ​​the labium and the upper lip ( labrum ). On the labrum, next to a dark spot, the edges are dark brown. Both the ante and post clypeus are light and the latter has two dark spots. The sides of the front are also light; its upper part, however, is metallic green and has only two small yellow dots. The vertex is metallic purple and the occiput is dark. The hairs on the occiput are dark. The back of the head is black and covered with short light hairs.

distribution

Somatochlora margarita occurs in the border region of Texas and Louisiana .

Habitat and way of life

The holotype as well as the female allotype were captured along a dirt road in a Texas pine forest . The species flies relatively high across the board and only the females have been observed occasionally approaching the ground. This circumstance, which made it difficult to catch, also gave the species its name. It is named after Margaret Stevenson, who, together with the wife of the first describer Donelly, maneuvered the pick-up on which Donelly caught the dragonflies with a long cash.

Together with the species fly Somatochlora linearis , Macromia georgia , Cordulegaster obliqua , Libellula needhami and Tramea onusta .

supporting documents

  1. ^ Somatochlora margarita on Dragonflies and Damselflies (Odonata) of the United States , Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center of the US Geological Survey, accessed February 21, 2010.

literature

Web links