Zygoptera (damselflies)

Code QO089999

Large, metallic damselflies which occur in streams in eastern Australia. The adults are generally found perched on vegetation overhanging the water, with wings partially open. Larvae are long and narrow. The gills are short, rounded and leaf-like, without a node, and are held vertically. The prementum is rounded with a central cleft, the palps narrow with two terminal teeth and a long moveable hook. There are no setae on the prementum, palps or hook.

Larvae of Chorismagrioninae (monotypic subfamily for Chorismagrion risi , occurs in streams in northern Queensland) are distinguished by a pair of prominent dark longitudinal stripes running the length of the abdomen.

NB : A recent guide to the larvae of Australian Odonates (Hawking & Theischinger, 1999) has proposed a new classification system in which the family Synlestidae has been divided into the families Synlestidae and Chorismagrionidae.

Reference:

Hawking, J.H. (1986) Dragonfly larvae of the River Murray system. Albury-Wodonga Development Corporation Technical Report No. 6., Wodonga.

Hawking, J.H. and Theischinger, G. (1999) Dragonfly Larvae (Odonata): A Guide to the Identification of Larvae of Australian Families and to the Identification and Ecology of Larvae from New South Wales . CRCFE Identification Guide No. 24., Cooperative Research Centre for Freshwater Ecology, Thurgoona.