''Selysiothemis nigra'', the black pennant, is a

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

species of

dragonfly 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 threate ...

in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Libellulidae The skimmers or perchers and their relatives form the Libellulidae, the largest dragonfly family in the world. It is sometimes considered to contain the Corduliidae as the subfamily Corduliinae and the Macromiidae as the subfamily Macromiinae. E ...

. It occurs in Central Asia and the Middle East. In Europe it is mostly confined to the coastal areas of the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on th ...

and the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, ...

Description

The abdomen, which is around 20 mm long, is black in fully coloured males and has a white dusting on the underside. Juvenile males and females, on the other hand, are pale grey-yellow with black markings. This consists of a dorsal stripe on the second and third segments, as well as on the transverse edges of these segments. The dorsal stripe continues but is interrupted on segments four to seven at the transition to the next segment. It also narrows on these segments in the middle of the segment. It becomes wider again on the eighth to tenth segments. The upper abdominal appendages are shorter than the ninth segment and, seen from the side, are curved almost in a semicircle. The broad and blunt lower abdominal appendages are only slightly shorter than the upper ones. In adult males, the

thorax The thorax or chest is a part of the anatomy of humans, mammals, and other tetrapod animals located between the neck and the abdomen. In insects, crustaceans, and the extinct trilobites, the thorax is one of the three main divisions of the ...

is also black and the belly is whitish. There are also white hairs. The females, on the other hand, are golden brown and become whitish towards the bottom. The legs are black and yellowish white on the hips ( coxa) and on the inside of the thigh (

femur The femur (; ), or thigh bone, is the proximal bone of the hindlimb in tetrapod vertebrates. The head of the femur articulates with the acetabulum in the pelvic bone forming the hip joint, while the distal part of the femur articulates wit ...

). The hind wings, measuring around 25 mm, are transparent like the forewings and have a white wing mark (

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 ...

). The wing veins are white. While the lower lip (

labium Labium is the Latin word for lip. In English, it may refer to: * Labia, a part of the female external genitalia * Labium (botany), a modified petal in certain monocot flowers, which attracts insects for pollination * Labium (arthropod mouthpart), a ...

) is whitish in adult males, it is yellowish white in juvenile males and females. The upper lip ( labrum) is dull orange. The face and the adjoining forehead (

frons Insect morphology is the study and description of the physical form of insects. The terminology used to describe insects is similar to that used for other arthropods due to their shared evolutionary history. Three physical features separate insec ...

) are greyish olive in colour, darkening towards the middle in adult males and greenish white in females and males whose colour has not yet fully developed. In addition, the latter have a sharply defined forehead basal line. The vertex is also dark olive in colour.

References

Sources

* * Libellulidae Taxa described in 1897 Taxa named by Friedrich Ris Monotypic Odonata genera {{Libellulidae-stub