''Tramea loewii'', the common glider, is a species of

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 threat ...

in the

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 M ...

family. It is found in the

Cocos Islands The Cocos (Keeling) Islands (), officially the Territory of Cocos (Keeling) Islands (; ), are an Australian external territory in the Indian Ocean, comprising a small archipelago approximately midway between Australia and Sri Lanka and rel ...

Moluccas The Maluku Islands ( ; , ) or the Moluccas ( ; ) are an archipelago in the eastern part of Indonesia. Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone. Geographically they are located in West Melanesi ...

Lesser Sunda Islands The Lesser Sunda Islands (, , ), now known as Nusa Tenggara Islands (, or "Southeast Islands"), are an archipelago in the Indonesian archipelago. Most of the Lesser Sunda Islands are located within the Wallacea region, except for the Bali pro ...

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

New Caledonia New Caledonia ( ; ) is a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, southwest of Vanuatu and east of Australia. Located from Metropolitan France, it forms a Overseas France#Sui generis collectivity, ''sui generis'' collectivity of t ...

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 ...

, and the western

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...

. Since 2005, ''Tramea loewii'' has also been recorded in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

Description

''Tramea loewii'' is a medium to large dragonfly (wingspan 85 mm, length 45 mm). Its synthorax is striped yellowish to brown on a purplish background. Males have a red abdomen, and the last two segments have black markings. Females are a dull brown colour. Dark patches at the base of their hindwings are a characteristic feature of this species; males have red patches and females have brown. ''Tramea loewii'' is very similar to '' Tramea stenoloba'' which has a darker synthorax, and larger genital dimensions.

Habitat

''Tramea loewii'' inhabits a wide range of still waters, ponds and swamps, and may breed many times in a year. In Australia it is widespread except for the far south-west of the continent.

Gallery

Common Glider Dragonfly. Tramea loewii (Trapezostigma loewii). LIBELLULIDAE - Flickr - gailhampshire (3).jpg, Male common glider has a red abdomen with black markings near the tip Female Common Glider flank (17068671967).jpg, Female common glider has a brown abdomen with black markings near the tip Tramea loewii - Common Glider.jpg , Male viewed from the side Male Common Glider lateral (17274274202).jpg, Female viewed from the side Tramea_face_2.jpg , Male face Male Common Glider face (17068781047).jpg, Female face Tramea loewii wings 1216.svg, Illustration of male ''Tramea'' wing venation Tramea loewii female wings (34219442984).jpg, Photo of female wings Australian insects (Plate VIII) (7268226282).jpg, 1. ''Tramea loewii'' from ''Australian Insects'' 1907

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2463844 Libellulidae Odonata of Oceania Odonata of Australia Odonata of New Zealand Insects of New Guinea Insects of Indonesia Insects of Southeast Asia Insects of New Caledonia Taxa named by Johann Jakob Kaup Insects described in 1866