RHYOTHEMIS FLUTTERERS DRAGONFLYEmbedded in clear epoxy resin |
CLICK FOR DOWNLOAD --------------------------------- Classification KINGDOM : Animalia PHYLUM : Arthropoda CLASS : Insecta ORDER : Odonata INFRAORDER : Anisoptera FAMILY : Libellulidae GENUS : Rhyothemis.............................. |
RHYOTHEMIS FLUTTERERS DRAGONFLY
Rhyothemis is a genus of dragonfly in the family Libellulidae. They are commonly known as Flutterers. Rhyothemis species are found in Africa, Asia, Australia and the Pacific region. More than twenty species inhabit sunny marshes from Africa to Australia and the Pacific. The five African species are small to medium-sized (hindwing 21-32 mm), have bronzy black bodies and strongly dark-patterned wings with blue and purple reflections. They display their wings while perching pennant-like (at the tip of a conspicuous perch with legs thrust forward and wings raised) or in fluttering flight (R. mariposa is named for the Spanish word for butterfly), often in groups at some height, gliding to and fro. Although their flight seems weak, they can be remarkably fast and evasive, and at least R. semihyalina migrates at night. R. fenestrina was long treated as a subspecies of R. notata, but the two overlap widely, the latter preferring more forested habitats. R. splendens is only known from the type series from Kabongo in Katanga and a recent sighting further north in DR Congo. 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. Even if these are excluded (as Silsby does), there still remains a family of over 1000 species. With nearly worldwide distribution, these are almost certainly the most often seen of all dragonflies.
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