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Common Darter
The common darter (''Sympetrum striolatum'') is a dragonfly of the family Libellulidae native to Eurasia. It is one of the most common dragonflies in Europe, occurring in a wide variety of water bodies, though with a preference for breeding in still water such as ponds and lakes. In the south of its range adults are on the wing all year round. Appearance ''Sympetrum'' species are not easy to tell apart and in most areas more than one ''Sympetrum'' species will occur. Females and teneral individuals have light yellow thorax and abdomen. Males turn red as they mature. Females darken with age, becoming a dark chocolate brown, and sometimes develop a blue colouration to the bottom of the abdomen. The wings also develop a brown tinge with age. In all cases the legs have a cream or yellow stripe on a black background - this is a diagnostic feature of this species. The pterostigma of the females can be red, blue, pale blue or brown. Common darter dragonfly (Sympetrum striolatum) imm ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Linnaeus
Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming organisms. He is known as the "father of modern Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy". Many of his writings were in Latin; his name is rendered in Latin as and, after his 1761 ennoblement, as . Linnaeus was the son of a curate and was born in Råshult, in the countryside of Småland, southern Sweden. He received most of his higher education at Uppsala University and began giving lectures in botany there in 1730. He lived abroad between 1735 and 1738, where he studied and also published the first edition of his ' in the Netherlands. He then returned to Sweden where he became professor of medicine and botany at Uppsala. In the 1740s, he was sent on several journeys through Sweden to find and classify plants and animals. In the 1750s and 1760s, he co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dragonfly
A dragonfly is a flying insect belonging to the infraorder Anisoptera below the order Odonata. About 3,000 extant species of dragonflies are known. Most are tropical, with fewer species in temperate regions. Loss of wetland habitat threatens dragonfly populations around the world. Adult dragonflies are characterised by a pair of large, multifaceted, compound eyes, two pairs of strong, transparent wings, sometimes with coloured patches, and an elongated body. Many dragonflies have brilliant iridescent or metallic colours produced by structural coloration, making them conspicuous in flight. An adult dragonfly's compound eyes have nearly 24,000 ommatidia each. Dragonflies can be mistaken for the closely related damselflies, which make up the other odonatan infraorder ( Zygoptera) and are similar in body plan, though usually lighter in build; however, the wings of most dragonflies are held flat and away from the body, while damselflies hold their wings folded at rest, al ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Libellulidae
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 '' Tr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eurasia
Eurasia ( , ) is a continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. According to some geographers, Physical geography, physiographically, Eurasia is a single supercontinent. The concept of Europe and Asia as distinct continents dates back to classical antiquity, antiquity, but their borders have historically been subject to change. For example, the ancient Greeks originally included Africa in Asia but classified Europe as separate land. Eurasia is connected to Africa at the Suez Canal, and the two are sometimes combined to describe the largest contiguous landmass on Earth, Afro-Eurasia. History Eurasia has been the host of many ancient civilizations, including those based in Mesopotamia, Egypt, the Indus Valley and China. In the Axial Age (mid-first millennium BCE), a continuous belt of civilizations stretched through the Eurasian Subtropics, subtropical zone from the Atlantic to the Pacific. This belt became the mainstream of world history for two millennia. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Europe
Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east. Europe shares the landmass of Eurasia with Asia, and of Afro-Eurasia with both Africa and Asia. Europe is commonly considered to be Boundaries between the continents#Asia and Europe, separated from Asia by the Drainage divide, watershed of the Ural Mountains, the Ural (river), Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Greater Caucasus, the Black Sea, and the waterway of the Bosporus, Bosporus Strait. "Europe" (pp. 68–69); "Asia" (pp. 90–91): "A commonly accepted division between Asia and Europe ... is formed by the Ural Mountains, Ural River, Caspian Sea, Caucasus Mountains, and the Black Sea with its outlets, the Bosporus and Dardanelles." Europe covers approx. , or 2% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface (6.8% of Earth's land area), making it ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Teneral
Ecdysis is the moulting of the cuticle in many invertebrates of the clade Ecdysozoa. Since the cuticle of these animals typically forms a largely inelastic exoskeleton, it is shed during growth and a new, larger covering is formed. The remnants of the old, empty exoskeleton are called exuviae. After moulting, an arthropod is described as ''teneral'', a ''callow''; it is "fresh", pale and soft-bodied. Within one or two hours, the cuticle hardens and darkens following a tanning process analogous to the production of leather. During this short phase the animal expands, since growth is otherwise constrained by the rigidity of the exoskeleton. Growth of the limbs and other parts normally covered by the hard exoskeleton is achieved by transfer of body fluids from soft parts before the new skin hardens. A spider with a small abdomen may be undernourished but more probably has recently undergone ecdysis. Some arthropods, especially large insects with tracheal respiration, expand their ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pterostigma
The pterostigma (plural: pterostigmata) is a group of specialized cells in the outer wings of insects, which are often thickened or coloured, and thus stand out from other cells. It is particularly noticeable in dragonflies, but present also in other insect groups, such as snakeflies, hymenopterans, and megalopterans. It is also often referred to as a stigma. Purpose The pterostigma, a heavier section of the wing than nearby sections, assists in gliding. Without the pterostigmata, self-exciting vibrations known as flutter would set in on the wing above a certain critical speed, making gliding impossible. Tests show that with the pterostigmata, the critical gliding speed is increased 10–25% on one species of dragonfly. Pseudopterostigma Some female damselflies in the family Calopterygidae Calopterygidae is a Family (biology), family of damselfly, damselflies, in the suborder Zygoptera. They are commonly known as the broad-winged damselflies, demoiselles, or jewelwings. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Southern Hawker
The southern hawker or blue hawker (''Aeshna cyanea'') is a species of hawker dragonfly. Distribution The species is one of the most common and most widespread dragonflies in Europe. The range in the Western Palearctic covers a large part of Europe, to Scotland and southern Scandinavia in the north and to Italy (without the southwest) and the northern Balkans in the south); the eastern boundary is formed by the Urals and the western by Ireland. It is also found in northwest Africa (Algeria). In Central Europe the species is very common. Habitat These dragonflies mainly inhabit well-vegetated, small ponds and garden ponds, but they wander widely, and they are often seen in gardens and open woodland. Description ''Aeshna cyanea'' can reach a body length of about , with a wingspan up to .Richard Robinson Askew, The Dragonflies of Europe, Harley Books, 2004, p. 109. It is a large, brightly coloured dragonfly, with a long body. The thorax is brown, with two ante-humeral wide green ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Taxon
In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; : taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular name and given a particular ranking, especially if and when it is accepted or becomes established. It is very common, however, for taxonomists to remain at odds over what belongs to a taxon and the criteria used for inclusion, especially in the context of rank-based (" Linnaean") nomenclature (much less so under phylogenetic nomenclature). If a taxon is given a formal scientific name, its use is then governed by one of the nomenclature codes specifying which scientific name is correct for a particular grouping. Initial attempts at classifying and ordering organisms (plants and animals) were presumably set forth in prehistoric times by hunter-gatherers, as suggested by the fairly sophisticated folk taxonomies. Much later, Aristotle, and later st ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sympetrum Nigrifemur
''Sympetrum nigrifemur'', the island darter, is a species of dragonfly in the family Libellulidae. It is endemic to the Canary Islands and to Madeira. Its natural habitats are rivers, intermittent rivers, intermittent freshwater marshes, and ponds. ''Sympetrum nigrifemur'' may be a subspecies of common darter The common darter (''Sympetrum striolatum'') is a dragonfly of the family Libellulidae native to Eurasia. It is one of the most common dragonflies in Europe, occurring in a wide variety of water bodies, though with a preference for breeding in ..., ''S. striolatum''. References * Libellulidae Insects described in 1884 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Libellulidae-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
British Dragonfly Society
The British Dragonfly Society is a conservation organisation in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1983 and its aims are to promote and to encourage the study and conservation of dragonflies and damselflies and their natural habitats, especially in the United Kingdom. The Society runs the Dragonfly Recording Network (DRN) to collect Odonata records in the UK. It also promotes a range of research and conservation projects. The British Dragonfly Society is a registered charity, number 800196. History The British Dragonfly Society is a conservation organisation in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1983 with the aim to promote and to encourage the study and conservation of dragonflies and damselflies and their natural habitats, especially in the United Kingdom. The British Dragonfly Society is a registered charity, number 800196. As of 2024, the chair of trustees is Tim Coleshaw. Activities The Society runs the Dragonfly Recording Network (DRN) to collect Odonata records ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Odonata Of Asia
Odonata is an order of predatory flying insects that includes the dragonflies and damselflies (as well as the '' Epiophlebia'' damsel-dragonflies). The two major groups are distinguished with dragonflies (Anisoptera) usually being bulkier with large compound eyes together and wings spread up or out at rest, while damselflies (suborder Zygoptera) are usually more slender with eyes placed apart and wings folded together along body at rest. Adult odonates can land and perch, but rarely walk. All odonates have aquatic larvae called naiads or nymphs, and all of them, larvae and adults, are carnivorous and are almost entirely insectivorous, although at the larval stage they will eat anything that they can overpower, including small fish, tadpoles, and even adult newts. The adults are superb aerial hunters and their legs are specialised for catching prey in flight. Odonata in its narrow sense forms a subgroup of the broader Odonatoptera, which contains other dragonfly-like insects. T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
