The name-bearing types of Odonata held in the Natural History Museum of Zimbabwe, with systematic notes on Afrotropical taxa. Part 2: Zygoptera and descriptions of new species

Orthographic details of 118 name-bearing types of Odonata and 11 ‘holotypes’ of forms, without nomenclatural status, are provided in two parts: the second and present paper deals with Zygoptera. The taxonomy of the gracilis-group of Chlorocypha and the Afrotropical members of Prodasineura and Aciagrion are discussed. Chlorocypha fabamacula is removed from synonymy with C. wittei;…

Inflation by venation and the bankruptcy of traditional genera: the case of Neodythemis and Micromacromia, with keys to the continental African species and the description of two new Neodythemis species from the Albertine Rift (Odonata: Libellulidae)

The Afrotropical ‘neodythemistine’ genera are an example of venation-biased classification in Odonata. This example is used to argue the bankruptcy of some traditional classifications in the order, particularly in the Libellulidae, and the need to apply alternative characters to define genera. Two groups of Afrotropical ‘neodythemistines’ are identified by male and female genitalia, supported by…

Heteragrion makiritare sp. nov with descriptions of hitherto unknown females and larvae of other species from Venezuela (Odonata: Megapodagrionidae, Lestidae)

Heteragrion makiritare sp. nov. is described from two males from the Pantepui region – holotype: Venezuela, Amazonas State, Marahuaka, Sima (3°43′N, 65°31′W), 1,140 m a.s.l., MIZA, no. 17250. It belongs in the species group whose paraprocts are absent in the male sex. The identity of H. macilentum is elucidated by examining its lectotype and a…

Aeshna (Hesperaeschna) condor sp. nov. from the Venezuelan Andes, with a redescription of A. (H.) joannisi, comments on other species, and descriptions of larvae (Odonata: Aeshnidae)

Aeshna (Hesperaeschna) condor sp. nov. is described and illustrated from four males and six exuviae. The adult color pattern does not resemble that of any other Venezuelan species, but structurally the new species comes closest to A. (H.) punctata and A. (H.) joannisi. This latter is here recorded for the first time from Venezuela, and…

New fossil damselflies from Baltic Amber, with description of a new species, a redescription of Litheuphaea carpenteri Fraser, and a discussion on the phylogeny of Epallagidae (Zygotera: Caloptera)

Litheuphaea ludwigi sp. n. is described as first representative of Epallagidae from Baltic amber. The holotype of Litheuphaea carpenteri Fraser, 1955 is redescribed, the phylogenetic position of all fossil Epallagidae is discussed, and a new phylogenetic classification is proposed. The authorship of Selys (1853) for the family-group name Euphaeidae is rejected, since the “légion Euphaea”…