| Tatocnemis | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Clade: | Pancrustacea |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Odonata |
| Suborder: | Zygoptera |
| Superfamily: | Calopterygoidea |
| Family: | Tatocnemididae Rácenis, 1959[1] |
| Genus: | Tatocnemis Kirby, 1889[2] |
Tatocnemis is a genus of damselflies in the family Tatocnemididae.[3][4] The genus occurs on Madagascar and neighbouring islands and contains ten described species.[3]
Species of Tatocnemis inhabit forest streams and are characterised by their slender bodies, strongly petiolated wings and large pterostigma.[2] Several species have distinctive wing shapes, including emarginate wing tips.[2]
Tatocnemididae contains only the genus Tatocnemis and is recognised as a distinct evolutionary lineage of damselflies.[5][4]
Taxonomic history
Kirby established the genus Tatocnemis in 1889 for Tatocnemis malgassica from Madagascar.[2] He considered it a highly distinctive genus because of its wing structure, noting similarities to a small number of unusual damselfly genera from the Philippines and New Guinea.[2]
In a revision of Megapodagrionidae, Rácenis (1959) established Tatocnemidinae as a new subfamily containing Tatocnemis and Archaeopodagrion.[1] Subsequent morphological and molecular studies supported recognition of this lineage as distinct from Megapodagrionidae.[5][6]
Modern classifications recognise Tatocnemididae as a separate family of damselflies. The family contains only the genus Tatocnemis and its ten described species.[4][3]
Species
The following species are currently placed in Tatocnemis:[3]
- Tatocnemis crenulatipennis Fraser, 1952
- Tatocnemis denticularis Aguesse, 1968
- Tatocnemis emarginatipennis Fraser, 1960
- Tatocnemis malgassica Kirby, 1889
- Tatocnemis mellisi Schmidt, 1951
- Tatocnemis micromalgassica Aguesse, 1968
- Tatocnemis olsufieffi Schmidt, 1951
- Tatocnemis robinsoni Schmidt, 1951
- Tatocnemis sinuatipennis (Selys, 1891)
- Tatocnemis virginiae Legrand, 1992
Etymology
The family name Tatocnemididae is derived from the type genus Tatocnemis, with the standard zoological family suffix -idae.
The genus name Tatocnemis is of uncertain derivation. The suffix -cnemis is from the Greek κνήμη (knēmē, "leg" or "shin"), a component used in several related damselfly genus names such as Priocnemis and Idiocnemis. Kirby did not explain the origin of the prefix Tato- when he established the genus in 1889.[2][7]
References
- Rácenis, Janis (1959). "Notas taxonómicas sobre la familia Megapodagrionidae (Odonata: Zygoptera) con la sinopsis de las especies venezolanas". Acta Biológica Venezuélica (in Spanish). 2: 335–367.
- Kirby, W. F. (1889). "Descriptions of new genera and species of Odonata in the collection of the British Museum, chiefly from Africa". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. 1889: 297–303 [300] – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
- 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 May 2026.
- Bybee, S. M.; Kalkman, V. J.; Erickson, R. J.; Frandsen, P. B.; Breinholt, J. W.; Suvorov, A.; Ware, J. L. (2021). "Phylogeny and classification of Odonata using targeted genomics". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 160: 1–15. Bibcode:2021MolPE.16007115B. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2021.107115. hdl:11093/2768. PMID 33609713.
- Dijkstra, Klaas-Douwe B.; Kalkman, Vincent J.; Dow, Rory A.; Stokvis, Frank R.; Van Tol, Jan (2014). "Redefining the damselfly families: A comprehensive molecular phylogeny of Zygoptera (Odonata)". Systematic Entomology. 39 (1): 68–96. doi:10.1111/syen.12035.
- Bota-Sierra, Cornelio A. (2017). "Two new species of the family Philogeniidae (Odonata: Zygoptera) from the Western Colombian Andes". International Journal of Odonatology. 20 (3–4): 137–150. doi:10.1080/13887890.2017.1344733.
- Brown, Roland Wilbur (1954). Composition of Scientific Words: A Manual of Methods and a Lexicon of Materials for the Practice of Logotechnics. [Washington].