Libellulidae

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Family of dragonflies

title: "Libellulidae" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["libellulidae", "libelluloidea", "odonata-families", "odonata-of-australia", "taxa-named-by-william-elford-leach", "dragonflies"] description: "Family of dragonflies" topic_path: "geography/australia" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libellulidae" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Family of dragonflies ::

| fossil_range = | image = Wandering Glider Pantala flavescens.jpg | image_caption = Pantala flavescens | taxon = Libellulidae | authority = Leach, 1815 | subdivision_ranks = Genera | subdivision = See text

The chasers, darters, skimmers, and perchers and their relatives form the Libellulidae, the largest family of dragonflies. It is sometimes considered to contain the Corduliidae as the subfamily Corduliinae and the Macromiidae as the subfamily Macromiinae. Even if these are excluded (as Silsby does), there remains a family of over 1000 species. With nearly worldwide distribution, these are the most commonly encountered dragonflies.

The genus Libellula is mostly New World but also has one of the few endangered odonates from Japan: Libellula angelina. Many of the members of this genus are brightly colored or have banded wings. The related genus Plathemis includes the whitetails. The genus Celithemis contains several brightly marked species in the southern United States. Members of the genus Sympetrum are called darters (or meadowhawks in North America) and are found throughout most of the world, except Australia. Several tropical species in the genera Trithemis and Zenithoptera are considered to be especially beautiful. Other common genera include Tramea and Pantala.

Libellulids have stout-bodied larvae with the lower lip or labium developed into a mask over the lower part of the face.

The earliest record of the family is the fossil genus †Palaeolibellula Fleck, Nel & Martinez-Delclos, 1999 from the Turonian of Kazakhstan, which appears to represent a stem-member of the family.

Etymology

The family name comes from Latin libella, meaning "a carpenter's level", because of the insect's ability to stay level when hovering.

Genera

The Libelluidae contain these genera:

The following fossil genera are also known:

Gallery

File:Ruddy Marsh Skimmer (Crocothemis servilia)- male W IMG 0512.jpg|Crocothemis servilia File:Libellula luctuosa male.jpg|Libellula luctuosa File:Green Marsh Hawk (Orthetrum sabina) W IMG 1681.jpg|Orthetrum sabina File:Platetrum_depressum_1_Luc_Viatour.JPG|Libellula depressa File:Darter August 2007-20.jpg|Sympetrum fonscolombii File:Sympetrum_sanguineum_(male).jpg|Sympetrum sanguineum File:Crimson Marsh Glider (Trithemis aurora) - Male.jpg|Trithemis aurora File:Trithemis kirbyi.jpg|Trithemis kirbyi File:Neurothemis terminata.jpg|Neurothemis terminata File:Scarlet Dragonfly.jpg|Crocothemis erythraea File:Segellibellen-Larve.JPG|Libellulidae nymph File:Dark-winged skimmer (Diastatops pullata) male.JPG|Diastatops pullata, male Large woodskimmer (Uracis fastigiata) male.jpg|Uracis fastigiata, male File:Tropical skimmer (Uracis imbuta) male Costa Rica.jpg|Uracis imbuta, male File:Madagascar jungle skimmer (Thermorthemis madagascariensis) male.jpg|Thermorthemis madagascariensis, male File:Madagascar jungle skimmer (Thermorthemis madagascariensis) male 2.jpg|Thermorthemis madagascariensis, male File:Madagascar jungle skimmer (Thermorthemis madagascariensis) immature male.jpg|Thermorthemis madagascariensis, immature male

References

Bibliography

  • Silsby, Jill. 2001. Dragonflies of the World. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington D.C.

References

  1. (1815). "The Edinburgh Encyclopedia". William Blackburn.
  2. Tennessen, Kenneth. (2019). "Libellulidae". Springer International Publishing.
  3. (1999-10-01). "The oldest record of libellulid dragonflies from the Upper Cretaceous of Kazakhstan (Insecta: Odonata, Anisoptera)". Cretaceous Research.
  4. (2016-03-18). "How to date a dragonfly: Fossil calibrations for odonates". Palaeontologia Electronica.
  5. "Definition of LIBELLULA".
  6. (2008). "A new fossil dragonfly (Insecta, Odonata, Libellulidae) of the Miocene (Lower-Sarmatian) of the Tunjice Hills, Slovenia". Virgo, Mitteilungsblatt des Entomologischen Vereins Mecklenburg 11. Jahrgang, Heft.
  7. "PBDB Taxon".
  8. (2005-04-21). "New fossil Odonata from the European Cenozoic (Insecta: Odonata: Thaumatoneuridae, Aeshnidae, ?Idionychidae, Libellulidae)". Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie - Abhandlungen.
  9. Zessin, Wolfgang. (2019). "Neue Insekten aus dem Moler (Paläozän/Eozän) von Dänemark, Teil 4 (Orthoptera: Caelifera: Eumastacidae, Ensifera: Gryllidae; Odonata: Libellulidae)". Virgo.
  10. (2002). "An interesting new fossil dragonfly (Anisoptera: Libellulidae: "Brachydiplacini") from the Miocene of Germany, with a discussion on the phylogeny of Tetrathemistinae and a fossil list for the locality Heggbach". Stuttgarter Beitr. Naturk..
  11. (2003-09-18). "New dragonflies from the Lower Miocene (Ottnangian/Karpatian) of the Cypris Shale in western Bohemia (Odonata: Libellulidae)". Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie - Monatshefte.

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