The damselfly and dragonfly watercolour collection of Edmond de Selys Longchamps: II Calopterygines, Cordulines, Gomphines and Aeschnines 00

Abstract

In the nineteenth century Edmond de Selys Longchamps added watercolours, drawings and notes to his extensive collection of dragonfly and damselfly specimens. The majority of illustrations were executed by Selys and Guillaume Severin. The watercolour collection is currently part of the collection of the Royal Belgian Institute for Natural Sciences in Brussels. This previously unpublished material has now been scanned and is accessible on the website of this institute. This article presents the part of the collection concerning the following sous-familles according to Selys: Calopterygines (currently superfamilies Calopterygoidea and Epiophlebioidea), Cordulines (currently superfamily Libelluloidea), Gomphines (currently superfamily Petaluroidea, Gomphoidea, Cordulegastroidea and Aeshnoidea) and Aeschnines (currently superfamily Aeshnoidea). This part consists of 750 watercolours, 64 drawings and 285 text sheets. Characteristics and subject matter of the sheets with illustrations and text are presented. The majority (92%) of all sheets with illustrations have been associated with current species names (Calopteryines 268, Cordulines 109, Gomphines 268 and Aeschnines 111). We hope the digital images and documentation stress the value of the watercolour collection of Selys and promote it as a source for odonate research.

Keywords: Odonata, taxonomy, Severin, Zygoptera, Anisozygoptera, Anisoptera, watercolours, drawings, aquarelles

Issue section: Review