Anisoptera (dragonflies)

Code QO149999

Moderately large dragonflies, brown in colour with a series of red spots along the leading edge of the wings. There are two Australian genera (3 species), Austropetalia (eastern Australian mainland) and Archipetalia (Tasmania). The family otherwise is known from South America. Austropetalia live in or perhaps near fast torrents: the larvae appear to be semi-terrestrial in the mossy splash zones around waterfalls and in sphagnum swamps. Archipetalia is known from streams and boggy seepages.

The larvae are very aeshnid-like in overall appearance. They can be distinguished by the rounded postero-lateral corners and upwardly projecting triangular lobes on most or all abdominal segments, in conjunction with a concave notch in the epiproct.

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

Reference:

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.