Platystictidae

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Platystictidae
Temporal range:
Protosticta gravelyi, male
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Clade: Pancrustacea
Class: Insecta
Order: Odonata
Suborder: Zygoptera
Superfamily: Platystictoidea
Kennedy, 1920
Family: Platystictidae
Kennedy, 1920[1]

Platystictidae is a family of damselflies, commonly known as shadowdamsels. It is the only family in the superfamily Platystictoidea.[2][3]

They look very similar to the threadtail damselfly family (Protoneuridae). They are found mainly throughout Asia, Central America, and South America.

Most members of this family live in dense tropical forests around streams. Their wings are narrow and their abdomen slender and elongated. Adults probably do not disperse far, as many species are known only from single locations or have very small ranges, and additional undescribed species likely exist.[4]

Phylogeny

Phylogenetic studies support Platystictoidea as a distinct evolutionary lineage of damselflies represented solely by the family Platystictidae.[2][5]

Platystictoidea is generally recovered as the sister group to Coenagrionoidea.[2][5]

Zygoptera

Platystictoidea

Coenagrionoidea

Genera

The following genera are currently placed in Platystictidae:[3]

Fossils

The fossil record of Platystictidae is sparse. One fossil genus has been described from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber of Myanmar:[6]

Etymology

The superfamily name Platystictoidea is derived from the type genus Platysticta, with the standard zoological suffix -oidea used for animal superfamilies.

The family name Platystictidae is derived from the type genus Platysticta, with the standard zoological suffix -idae used for animal families.

The genus name Platysticta is derived from the Greek πλατύς (platys, "broad") and στικτός (stiktos, "marked").[7] The name likely alludes to the broad pterostigma, the distinctive "wing mark" emphasised by Selys when he established the genus.[8]

See also

References

  1. Kennedy, C.H. (1920). "The phylogeny of the zygopterous dragonflies as based on the evidence of the penes". Ohio Journal of Science. 21 (1): 19–29 [24] – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
  2. Dijkstra, Klaas-Douwe B.; Bechly, Günter; Bybee, Seth M.; Dow, Rory A.; Dumont, Henri J.; Fleck, Günther; Garrison, Rosser W.; Hämäläinen, Matti; Kalkman, Vincent J.; Karube, Haruki; May, Michael L.; Orr, Albert G.; Paulson, Dennis R.; Rehn, Andrew C.; Theischinger, Günther; Trueman, John W.H.; Van Tol, Jan; von Ellenrieder, Natalia; Ware, Jessica (2013). "The classification and diversity of dragonflies and damselflies (Odonata). In: Zhang, Z.-Q. (Ed.) Animal Biodiversity: An Outline of Higher-level Classification and Survey of Taxonomic Richness (Addenda 2013)". Zootaxa. 3703 (1): 36–45. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3703.1.9. hdl:10072/61365. ISSN 1175-5334.
  3. Paulson, D.; Schorr, M.; Abbott, J.; Bota-Sierra, C.; Deliry, C.; Dijkstra, K.-D.; Lozano, F. "World Odonata List". OdonataCentral. University of Alabama. Retrieved 1 June 2026.
  4. Paulson, Dennis (2009). Dragonflies and Damselflies of the West. Princeton University Press. p. 184. ISBN 978-1-4008-3294-1.
  5. Bybee, S.M.; Ogden, T.H.; Branham, M.A.; Whiting, M.F. (2008). "Molecules, morphology and fossils: a comprehensive approach to odonate phylogeny and the evolution of the odonate wing". Cladistics. 24 (4): 477–514. doi:10.1111/j.1096-0031.2007.00191.x. PMID 34879634.
  6. "Paleobiology Database: Mesosticta". Paleobiology Database. Retrieved 1 June 2026.
  7. Brown, Roland Wilbur (1954). Composition of Scientific Words: A Manual of Methods and a Lexicon of Materials for the Practice of Logotechnics. [Washington].
  8. Selys Longchamps, Edmond de (1860). "Synopsis des Agrionines. Dernière légion: Protoneura". Bulletins de l'Académie royale des sciences, des lettres et des beaux-arts de Belgique. 2 (in French). 10 (9–10): 431–462 [433].