The Synlestidae are a family of

damselflies Damselflies are flying insects of the suborder Zygoptera in the order Odonata. They are similar to dragonflies (which constitute the other odonatan suborder, Epiprocta) but are usually smaller and have slimmer bodies. Most species fold the win ...

commonly known as sylphs or malachites.Synlestidae.
Identification & Ecology of Australian Freshwater Invertebrates. Murray-Darling Basin Authority. They occur in

Sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lie south of the Sahara. These include Central Africa, East Africa, Southern Africa, and West Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the list of sovereign states and ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

and the island of

Hispaniola Hispaniola (, also ) is an island between Geography of Cuba, Cuba and Geography of Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and the second-largest by List of C ...

in the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

.Vasilenko, D. V. (2005)
New damselflies (Odonata: Synlestidae, Hemiphlebiidae) from the Mesozoic Transbaikalian locality of Chernovskie Kopi.
''Paleontologicheskii Zhurnal'' 39(3), 280-83.

Description

These damselflies are 21 to 36 millimeters long, with slender abdomens. Species are generally metallic green to brown-tinged black in color.Synlestidae.
Australian Insect Families. CSIRO, 2016.

Biology

Damselflies of this family are predators. The nymphs live in rivers and streams, and can be found in stagnant pools during the dry season.

Systematics

There are nine extant genera. There are also several extinct genera known from fossils. Genera include: *'' Chlorolestes'' *'' Chorismagrion'' *'' Ecchlorolestes'' *'' Episynlestes'' *'' Megalestes'' *'' Nubiolestes'' *'' Phylolestes'' *'' Sinolestes'' *'' Synlestes''

References

{{Authority control Synlestidae Lestoidea Odonata families Odonata of Asia Odonata of Africa Odonata of Australia Odonata of South America Taxa named by Robert John Tillyard Damselflies