History of changes

Introduction

The Petaluridae is a small and apparently relict family. It contains five genera and nine species (Winstanley 1982), including five species of the endemic Australian genus Petalura. Petalura ingentissima is one of the world's largest dragonflies. No undescribed species are known. Hawking & Theischinger (1999) describe and figure the larva of Petalura gigantea from New South Wales.

Diagnosis

Adult: eyes widely separated; primary antenodals strongly differentiated, secondary antenodals not necessarily coinciding; pterostigma greatly elongate; median space free; triangular spaces moderately dissimilar in fore and hind wing, triangle of fore wing somewhat elongate across wing axis; anal loop rudimentary, ill-defined; base of male hindwing strongly angulated, auricles correspondingly present; female with complete, endophytic ovipositor.

Larva: labium flat, lacking setae, median lobe cleft, palps broadened, partly covering face; antennae 7-segmented; generally burrowers (Winstanley, 1982).

General References

Hawking, J. & Theischinger, G. 1999. Dragonfly larvae (Odonata). A guide to the identification of larvae of Australian families and to the identification and ecology of larvae from New South Wales. Albury : Cooperative Research Centre for Freshwater Ecology Vol. 24 iv 218 pp.

Tolman, E.R., Beatty, C.D., Kohli, M.K., Abbott, J., Bybee, S.M., Frandsen, P.B., Gosnell, J.S., Guralnick, R., Kalkman, V.J., Newton, L.G., Suvorov, A. & Ware, J.L. 2024. A molecular phylogeny of the Petaluridae (Odonata: Anisoptera): A 160-Million-Year-Old story of drift and extinction. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 200(108185)

Winstanley, W.J. 1982. Observations on the Petaluridae (Odonata). Advances in Odonatology 1: 303-308

Common Name References

Theischinger, G., Hawking, J. & Orr, A. 2021. The Complete Field Guide to Dragonflies of Australia. Melbourne : CSIRO Publishing 2nd edn. (Petaltails)

History of changes

• Petalura Leach, W.E. 1815. The Zoological Miscellany; being descriptions of new, or interesting animals. Illustrated by R.P. Nodder. London : Nodder & Son Vol. 2 154 pp. pls 61-120. [95].

  Type species:

   Petalura gigantea Leach, 1815 by monotypy.

Distribution

States

New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia

IBRA

NSW, Qld: Nandewar (NAN), New England Tablelands (NET), NSW South Western Slopes (NSS), South Eastern Highlands (SEH) ; NSW, Qld, WA: Avon Wheatbelt (AW), Brigalow Belt North (BBN), Brigalow Belt South (BBS), Central Mackay Coast (CMC), Cape York Peninsula (CYP), Desert Uplands (DEU), Einasleigh Uplands (EIU), Esperance Plains (ESP), Geraldton Sandplains (GS), Jarrah Forest (JF), Mallee (MAL), NSW North Coast (NNC), Sydney Basin (SB), South East Corner (SEC), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ), Swan Coastal Plain (SWA), Warren (WAR), Wet Tropics (WT), Yalgoo (YAL)

Original AFD Distribution Data

Australian Region

• Australia
  • New South Wales: SE coastal
  • Queensland: NE coastal
  • Western Australia: SW coastal

General References

Davies, D.A.L. 1998. The genus Petalura: Field observations, habits and conservation status (Anisoptera: Petaluridae). Odonatologica 27(3): 287-305 (distribution, conservation status)

History of changes

• Petalura gigantea Leach, W.E. 1815. The Zoological Miscellany; being descriptions of new, or interesting animals. Illustrated by R.P. Nodder. London : Nodder & Son Vol. 2 154 pp. pls 61-120. [96] [Leach, 1815 states that his material was 'preserved in the British Museum'; Kimmins, D.E. 1969. A list of the type-specimens of Odonata in the British Museum (Natural History) Part II. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) Entomol. 23: 287–314 does not list it].

  Type data:

   Syntype(s) BMNH ♂ ?♀ not found, Australia (as New Holland).

  Secondary source:

   Kimmins, D.E. 1969. A list of the type-specimens of Odonata in the British Museum (Natural History) Part II. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) Entomol. 23: 287-314.

Distribution

States

New South Wales, Queensland

IBRA

NSW, Qld: Brigalow Belt South (BBS), Nandewar (NAN), New England Tablelands (NET), NSW North Coast (NNC), NSW South Western Slopes (NSS), Sydney Basin (SB), South East Corner (SEC), South Eastern Highlands (SEH), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ)

Original AFD Distribution Data

Australian Region

• Australia
  • New South Wales: SE coastal
  • Queensland: NE coastal

Ecological Descriptors

Adult: predator, volant.

Larvae: lentic freshwater, predator, swamp.

Extra Ecological Information

Larva forms burrows in mud.

General References

Arthington, A.H. & Watson, J.A.L. 1982. Dragonflies (Odonata) of coastal sand-dune fresh waters of south-eastern Queensland and north-eastern New South Wales. Australian Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research 33: 77-88 (distribution, habitat)

Theischinger, G., Hawking, J. & Orr, A. 2021. The Complete Field Guide to Dragonflies of Australia. Melbourne : CSIRO Publishing 2nd edn.

Tillyard, R.J. 1909. Studies in the life-histories of Australian Odonata. i. The life-history of Petalura gigantea Leach. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 34: 256-267 pl. xxiv

Tillyard, R.J. 1911. Studies in the life-histories of Australian Odonata. No. 4. Further notes on the life-history of Petalura gigantea Leach. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 36: 86-96 pl. vii

Watson, T. 1982. Dragonflies in Australia. Hemisphere 27: 124-128 (photograph of adult)

History of changes

• Petalura hesperia Watson, J.A.L. 1958. A new species of Petalura Leach (Odonata) from Western Australia. Proceedings of the Royal Entomological Society of London (B) 27: 116-120 [116].

  Type data:

   Holotype WAM 1958-3 ♂, 1 3/4 miles southwest of Karragullen and 13 1/2 miles southeast of Perth (Grid reference 102294 Kelmscott 1 mile per inch map), WA.

Distribution

States

Western Australia

IBRA

WA: Avon Wheatbelt (AW), Esperance Plains (ESP), Geraldton Sandplains (GS), Jarrah Forest (JF), Mallee (MAL), Swan Coastal Plain (SWA), Warren (WAR), Yalgoo (YAL)

Original AFD Distribution Data

Australian Region

• Australia
  • Western Australia: SW coastal

Ecological Descriptors

Adult: predator, volant.

Larvae: lentic freshwater, predator, swamp.

Extra Ecological Information

Seepages along stream margins, larva builds burrows in mud.

General References

Barrett, M.D. & Williams, M.R. 1998. Distribution of the western Petalura dragonfly Petalura hesperia Watson in Western Australia. Pacific Conservation Biology 4(2): 149-154 (relictual distribution)

Theischinger, G., Hawking, J. & Orr, A. 2021. The Complete Field Guide to Dragonflies of Australia. Melbourne : CSIRO Publishing 2nd edn.

Watson, J.A.L. 1962. The Dragonflies (Odonata) of South-Western Australia. A guide to the identification, ecology, distribution and affinities of larvae and adults. Handbook No. 7. Perth : Western Australian Naturalists' Club 72 pp. (larva, ecology)

Watson, J.A.L. 1965. Petalurids: most primitive living dragonflies. Animals 6: 128-131 (photographs of adult, larva, larval exuviae, habitat, burrow)

History of changes

• Petalura ingentissima Tillyard, R.J. 1908. On the genus Petalura, with description of a new species. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 32(1907): 708-718 pl. xxxiii [11 Mar. 1908] [715].

  Type data:

   Lectotype BMNH ♂, Herberton, QLD.

  Subsequent designation references:

  Kimmins, D.E. 1969. A list of the type-specimens of Odonata in the British Museum (Natural History) Part II. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) Entomol. 23: 287-314.

Distribution

States

Queensland

IBRA

Qld: Brigalow Belt North (BBN), Central Mackay Coast (CMC), Desert Uplands (DEU), Einasleigh Uplands (EIU), Wet Tropics (WT)

Original AFD Distribution Data

Australian Region

• Australia
  • Queensland: NE coastal

Ecological Descriptors

Adult: predator, volant.

Larvae: predator.

Extra Ecological Information

Larva probably a burrower near streams in rainforest.

General References

Theischinger, G., Hawking, J. & Orr, A. 2021. The Complete Field Guide to Dragonflies of Australia. Melbourne : CSIRO Publishing 2nd edn.

History of changes

• Petalura litorea Theischinger, G. 1999. A new species of Petalura Leach from south-eastern Queensland (Odonata: Petaluridae). Linzer Biologische Beiträge 31(1): 159-166 [160].

  Type data:

   Holotype ANIC ♂, S end, Brown Lake, Stradbroke Is., QLD.

Distribution

States

New South Wales, Queensland

IBRA

NSW, Qld: Brigalow Belt South (BBS), Nandewar (NAN), New England Tablelands (NET), NSW North Coast (NNC), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ)

Original AFD Distribution Data

Australian Region

• Australia
  • Queensland: NE coastal

Ecological Descriptors

Adult: lentic freshwater, predator, volant.

General References

Theischinger, G., Hawking, J. & Orr, A. 2021. The Complete Field Guide to Dragonflies of Australia. Melbourne : CSIRO Publishing 2nd edn.

History of changes