The Corduliidae, also knowns as the emeralds, emerald dragonflies or green-eyed skimmers, is a family 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 threaten ...

. These dragonflies are usually black or dark brown with areas of metallic green or yellow, and most of them have large, emerald-green eyes. The

larva A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. Th ...

e are black, hairy-looking, and usually

semiaquatic In biology, semiaquatic can refer to various types of animals that spend part of their time in water, or plants that naturally grow partially submerged in water. Examples are given below. Semiaquatic animals Semi aquatic animals include: * Ve ...

. This family include species called "baskettails", "emeralds", "sundragons", "shadowdragons", and "boghaunters". They are not uncommon and are found nearly worldwide, but some individual species are quite rare.

Hine's emerald dragonfly The Hine’s emerald (''Somatochlora hineana'') is an endangered dragonfly species found in the United States and Canada. Populations exist in Illinois, Michigan, Missouri, Ontario, and Wisconsin. Larvae are found in shallow, flowing water in fen ...

(''Somatochlora hineana''), for example, is an endangered species in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

Selected genera

Some genera included in this family are: * '' Aeschnosoma'' * '' Antipodochlora'' – Dusk dragonfly * '' Cordulia'' – American emeralds * '' Corduliochlora'' * '' Cordulisantosia'' * '' Dorocordulia'' – little emeralds * '' Epitheca'' – baskettails * '' Guadalca'' * '' Helocordulia'' – sundragons * ''

Hemicordulia ''Hemicordulia'' is a genus of dragonfly in family Corduliidae. It occurs in Africa, southern Asia, Australasia and Pacific Islands such as the Bonin Islands, Fiji and French Polynesia )Territorial motto: ( en, "Great Tahiti of the Golden ...

'' - emeralds * '' Heteronaias'' * '' Libellulosoma'' * '' Metaphya'' – emeralds * '' Navicordulia'' * '' Neurocordulia'' – shadowdragons * '' Paracordulia'' * '' Pentathemis'' – metallic tigerhawk * '' Procordulia'' – emeralds * '' Schizocordulia'' * '' Somatochlora'' – striped emeralds * '' Williamsonia'' – boghaunters

References

External links

Several Emerald Photos

Hine's Emerald Dragonfly Fan Page
{{Taxonbar, from=Q504497 Libelluloidea Odonata families Odonata of Australia