Description of the final stadium larvae of African Gomphidia (Odonata: Gomphidae)

Descriptions and illustrations of the final stadium larvae of Gomphidia bredoi, G. gamblesi and G. quarrei are presented, based on exuviae collected in Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Kenya and Namibia. The three species can be separated by the presence/absence and shape of an abdominal dorsal spine on segment 9, by the numbers of abdominal lateral spines…

The larva of Mecistogaster linearis, with notes on its abundance in lowland rainforest of Costa Rica (Odonata: Pseudostigmatidae)

The larva of Mecistogaster linearis is described and illustrated from specimens collected within or near the Río Dantas Wildlife Refuge at the north-western border of the Barbilla National Park on the Costa Rican Caribbean slope. Characters of F-0 larvae permit easy separation from Megaloprepus caerulatus, a species coexisting with M. linearis. Diagnostic characters include overall…

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…

The larva of Leucorrhinia patricia Walker (Odonata: Libellulidae)

The final-stadium larva of Leucorrhinia patricia Walker is described from six exuviae with associated teneral adults collected in northern British Columbia. L. patricia belongs to the group of nearctic Leucorrhinia that has larvae with three ventral stripes. The larvae are very similar to those L. hudsonica (Sélys) larvae that are small and lack dorsal spines….

Sex ratio of Odonata at emergence

Final-instar exuviae left at the emergence site by Odonata can provide information of high quality for measuring sex ratio, especially of Anisoptera. Criteria are listed according to which counts of such exuviae are acceptable for this purpose. Records of sex ratio of Odonata, published and unpublished, are critically reviewed, and 194 that meet the listed…

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”…