Family CORDULIIDAE

Museums

Museum list

Regional Maps

Family CORDULIIDAE

Emeralds, Modern Emeralds, Round Winged

Compiler and date details

W.W.K. Houston, Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra, ACT, Australia J.A.L. Watson, CSIRO Entomology, Canberra, ACT, Australia Updated (1999) by A.A. Calder, CSIRO Entomology, Canberra, ACT, Australia

Introduction

[After Houston & Watson (1988)]
"The Corduliidae is a large family worldwide containing almost 50 genera and some 400 species (Bridges 1994). It is represented in Australia by only two genera (Metaphya and Pentathemis) and two species. Subfamilial classification has undergone radical reorganisation recently, with the following formerly included subfamilies now regarded as families in their own right (Carle & Louton 1994; Carle 1995; Lohmann 1996): Gomphomacromiinae (Archaeophya); the endemic Cordulephyinae (Cordulephya); Macromiinae (Macromia); and Synthemistinae (Choristhemis, Eusynthemis, Synthemiopsis, Synthemis). The following genera formerly included in this family are now treated in the following families: Austrocorduliidae (Apocordulia, Austrocordulia, Austrophya, Lathrocordulia, Micromidia) (Bechly 1996); Oxygastridae (Hesperocordulia) (Bechly 1996); Pseudocorduliidae (Pseudocordulia) (Lohmann 1996) and Hemicorduliidae (Hemicordulia and Procordulia) (Bechly 1996).

The Australian corduliids show strong Gondwanan affinities in the genus Pentathemis (Watson 1969)."

Following Ware et al. (2007) and Theischinger and Endersby (2009), Hemicordulidae are now assigned to Corduliidae.

Diagnosis

Adult: eyes broadly confluent; tibial keels present in male; primary antenodals, if recognizable, poorly defined, most or all secondary antenodals aligned; median space free or crossed; triangular spaces differing to a greater or lesser extent in fore- and hindwing, triangle of forewing commonly elongate across wing axis, its base remote from arculus, that of hindwing elongate along it, its base close to arculus; anal loop variable, usually clearly defined; base of hindwing angulated in male; ovipositor reduced to vulvar scale, often vestigial.

Larva: broad-bodied; labium spoon-shaped, palps broad, covering face, their apposed distal margins variably crenulate or dentate, the crenations and teeth with or without setae, prementum and palps with major setae, median lobe entire.