Abstract
Dragonfly nymphs are major components of aquatic ecosystems. Species identification is critical for studies on their biology and conservation. Of the 330 species of Anisoptera in North America, the nymphs of approximately 85% have been formally described. Illustrated keys and diagnoses for the seven families, 72 genera, and 325 species are provided. Five species are unknown in the nymph stage.
The living part is gone
leaving this tiny grotesque,
in its own way resembling
those wooden Japanese warriors
guarding the gates
to a temple of waters.
Just behind the head
at the juncture of the thorax
is a hole with dried
white sinewy laces.
And so, it is also
like an old leather shoe
whose foot has left it
to go barefoot
on the open meadows.
—Scott King 1999
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Notes
- 1.
James G. Needham was among the first North Americans to look at nymphs for help in distinguishing genera; for example, in his 1901 paper, he recognized that the nymph of Ladona deplanata did not belong in Libellula as many other workers at the time had claimed.
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Tennessen, K. (2019). Introduction. In: Dragonfly Nymphs of North America. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-97776-8_1
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