''Libellula'' is a genus of

dragonflies A dragonfly is a flying insect belonging to the infraorder Anisoptera below the order Odonata. About 3,000 extant species of true dragonfly are known. Most are tropical, with fewer species in temperate regions. Loss of wetland habitat threa ...

, commonly called skimmers, in the family Libellulidae, distributed throughout the

temperate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (23.5° to 66.5° N/S of Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ranges throughout ...

zone of the Northern Hemisphere. Most species are found in the United States, where they are the best-known large dragonflies, often seen flying over freshwater ponds in summer. Many have showy wing patterns.

Overview

The taxa ''Ladona'' (corporals) and ''Plathemis'' (whitetails) have been considered as synonyms of ''Libellula'', subgenera, or separate genera by different authorities. Recent

phylogenetic In biology, phylogenetics (; from Greek φυλή/ φῦλον [] "tribe, clan, race", and wikt:γενετικός, γενετικός [] "origin, source, birth") is the study of the evolutionary history and relationships among or within groups o ...

analysis has supported their status as either subgenera or full genera.

Species

List of species.''Libellula''
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Extant species

''Ladona''

''Plathemis''

Fossils

*'' Libellula brodieri''† The Paleobiology Database
/ref> *'' Libellula calypso''† *'' Libellula doris'' † *'' Libellula eusebioi''† *'' Libellula kieseli''† *'' Libellula martini''† *'' Libellula melobasis''† *'' Libellula pannewitziana''† *'' Libellula perse''† *'' Libellula sieboldiana''† *'' Libellula thetis''† *'' Libellula thoe''† *'' Libellula ukrainensis''†

References

External links

* * Libellulidae Anisoptera genera Odonata of Asia Odonata of Europe Odonata of North America Odonata of South America Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Taxa described in 1758 Animal migration {{libellulidae-stub