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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Dragonflies and Damselflies (Odonata)

Order Odonata - Dragonflies and Damselflies

Spreadwing - Ischnura ramburii Belted Whiteface - Leucorrhinia proxima - male Blue-eyed Darner - Rhionaeschna multicolor - female Unknown Damselfly skimmer? - Leucorrhinia intacta - female Blue-fronted Dancer - Argia apicalis - female Alkali bluet - Enallagma clausum - male Calico Pennant - Celithemis elisa
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Odonata (Dragonflies and Damselflies)
Other Common Names
Libellule (French), Libélula (Spanish); See(1) (BG's recommended source of common and scientific names)
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Paraneuroptera Shipley 1904
discussion on using(1) as an authority for taxonomy, common names
Numbers
ca. 460 spp. in 92 genera of 12 families in our area(1); ca. 6000 spp. in >650 genera of 30 families worldwide; 3 suborders (Anisozygoptera restricted to Asia)(2)(3)
Identification
Excellent images for identification: Stricklands' site
Regional & local guides:(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)
simple key to families (najads)(22)
Range
most of the world, with diversity conspicuously higher in warmer climes
for distribution of various taxa in NA refer to(23)(7)
Remarks
Conservation: nearly two-thirds of U.S. Odonata species have been designated as "Species of Greatest Conservation Need" (SGCN) (24)(25)
Internet References
Odonata Central (23)
Tree of Life
American Insects site
Odonata information network(26)
Works Cited
1.Dragonfly Society of the Americas. 2012. North American Odonata
2.Dragonflies of the World
Jill Silsby. 2001. Smithsonian Institution Press.
3.The classification and diversity of dragonflies and damselflies (Odonata). In: Zhang Z.-Q. (ed.) Animal biodiversity:...
Dijkstra KDB, Bechly G, Bybee SM, Dow RA, Dumont HJ, Fleck G, Garrison RW, Hämäläinen M, Kalkman VJ, Karube H, May ML, Orr AG. 2013. Zootaxa 3703: 036–045.
4.The Odonata of Canada and Alaska
Edmond M. Walker, Philip S. Corbet. University of Toronto Press.
5.Damselflies of the North Woods
Bob DuBois. 2005. Kollath-Stensaas Publishing.
6.Dragonflies and damselflies of the East
D. Paulson. 2012. Princeton University Press. 576 pp.
7.Maine damselfly and dragonfly survey
8.Les odonates du Quebec
Jean-Guy Pilon and Denise Lagace. 1998. Entomofaune du Quebec.
9.Field Guide to The Dragonflies and Damselflies of Algonquin Provincial Park and the Surrounding Area
Colin D. Jones, Andrea Kingsley, Peter Burke, and Matt Holder. 2008. Friends of Algonquin.
10.Dragonflies and Damselflies of the West
Dennis Paulson. 2009. Princeton.
11.Dragonflies and Damselfies of Louisiana
Michael L. Ferro, Katherine A. Parys, Matthew L. Gimmel, Gayle Strickland, Jeanell Strickland. 2010. Louisiana State Arthropod Museum.
12.Dragonflies and Damselflies of Georgia and the Southeast
Giff Beaton. 2007. University of Georgia Press.
13.Dragonflies and Damselflies of Oregon - A Field Guide
Cary Kerst and Steve Gordon. 2011. Oregon State University Press, Corvallis, OR.
14.Dragonflies and Damselflies (Odonata) of Texas, Volume 3
John Abbott. 2008. Lulu.com.
15.Dragonflies (Wild Guide)
Cynthia Berger, Amelia Hansen. 2004. Stackpole Books.
16.Dragonflies and Damselflies of Texas and the South-Central United States
John C. Abbott. 2005. Princeton University Press.
17.Common Dragonflies of the Southwest
Kathy Biggs. 2004. Azalea Creek Pub.
18.Dragonflies and Damselflies of California
Tim Manolis. 2003. University of California Press.
19.Pilon et al. (1988-2015) Entomofaune du Québec
20.Damselflies of Texas: A field guide
Abbott J.C. 2011. University of Texas Press. 292 pp.
21.Dragonflies of Texas A Field Guide.
John C. Abbott. 2015. University of Texas Press, Austin. 466 pp.
22.Guide to aquatic macroinvertebrates of the Upper Midwest
Bouchard R.W., Jr. 2004. Water Resources Center, U. of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN. 208 pp.
23.OdonataCentral
24.National review of state wildlife action plans for Odonata species of greatest conservation need.
Bried, J.T. and C.A. Mazzacano. 2010. Insect Conservation and Diversity 3(2): 61–71.
25.Odonata at risk in conterminous United States and Canada.
Bick, G.H. 1983. Odonatologica 12(3): 209-226.
26.Mauffray B. 1994-2011. Odonata information network
Contributed by Troy Bartlett on 16 February, 2004 - 12:32pm
Additional contributions by Mike Boone, cotinis, Stephen Cresswell, Tony-2, Mike Quinn, David Ferguson, v belov
Last updated 7 April, 2016 - 10:13am

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