Sun pointer
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| Brewer , 1868 |
The sun pointer ( Trithemis ) are a genus of 42 species of dragonflies belonging to the subfamily Trithemistinae , which was established by Brauer in 1868 . With a few exceptions, the species of the genus are native to Africa.
features
The sun hands are medium-sized dragonflies with sometimes very strikingly colored males. The color spectrum of the species ranges from red to an intense purple, which results from the interplay with a thin blue wax tire. Black and yellow-black patterned species are also represented. The females are mostly colored in muted brown-yellow tones. Red colored males can resemble Sympetrum and Crocothemis species.
In the case of the sun pointers, the complex eyes are connected over a short distance and have no enlargement on the temporal margin. The posterior margin of the prothorax is three-lobed, with the middle lobe being small and whole. The abdomen ( abdomen ) is narrow, pressed or three-sided and becomes somewhat blistered downwards. The genitals emerge on the second segment . The outermost branch of the hamulus is very short and the lobe is usually narrow and sickle-shaped. In the females the vagina is uncovered and the sides of the eighth segment are not enlarged. The wings are usually pointed. The rear pair of wings widens at the base. The number of Antenoda veins is over nine. The wing veins in the male are usually monochrome red or black. The wing mark ( pterostigma ) is sometimes very long and oblong and square. The abdominal appendages are short.
Way of life
Solar hands are very tolerant of heat. The dragonflies then adopt a posture in which they press their wings downward and the abdomen is vertical to the sun. This position, known as the obelisk position, also earned them the German trivial name, which alludes to the dragonflies that are aligned with their abdomen precisely towards the sun. With the exception of Trithemis pallidinervis , sun indicator species put their wings forward when they settle.
Systematics
The genus was first established by brewers in 1868 based on the Libellula aurora . Today the genus consists of the following species:
- Trithemis aconita
- Trithemis aenea
- Trithemis aequalis
- Trithemis africana
- Violet sun pointer ( Trithemis annulata )
- Trithemis anomala
- Rotader solar hand ( Trithemis arteriosa )
- Trithemis aurora
- Trithemis basitincta
- Trithemis bifida
- Trithemis bredoi
- Trithemis brydeni
- Trithemis congolica
- Trithemis dejouxi
- Trithemis dichroa
- Trithemis donaldsoni
- Trithemis dorsalis
- Trithemis ellenbeckii
- Black Sun Pointer ( Trithemis festiva )
- Trithemis fumosa
- Trithemis furva
- Trithemis grouti
- Trithemis hartwigi
- Trithemis hecate
- Trithemis imitata
- Trithemis integra
- Trithemis kalula
- Spotted Sun Pointer ( Trithemis kirbyi )
- Trithemis lilacina
- Trithemis monardi
- Trithemis morrisoni
- Trithemis nigra
- Trithemis nuptialis
- Trithemis osvaldae
- Trithemis pallidinervis
- Trithemis palustris
- Trithemis persephone
- Trithemis pluvialis
- Trithemis pruinata
- Trithemis selika
- Trithemis stictica
- Trithemis werneri
credentials
- ↑ a b Martin Schorr, Martin Lindeboom, Dennis Paulson: World Odonata List. Update from January 25, 2011 ( download )
- ↑ a b Jill Silsby: Dragonflies of the World . The Natural History Museum, Plymouth 2001, ISBN 0-565-09165-4 .
- ^ A b K.-DB Dijkstra: Field Guide to the Dragonflies of Britain and Europe . British Wildlife Publishing, Gillingham 2006. ISBN 0-953139948 , pp. 292f
- ↑ Friedrich Moritz Brauer: New and little known from Mr. Doct. Semper collected odonates. in: Negotiations of the Imperial-Royal Zoological-Botanical Society in Vienna, Vol. 18 (1868) p. 176f ( Download )