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Somatochlora

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Somatochlora
Temporal range: Oligocene - Present[1]
Female Somatochlora flavomaculata
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Odonata
Infraorder: Anisoptera
Family: Corduliidae
Subfamily: Corduliinae
Genus: Somatochlora
Selys, 1871
Teneral Somatochlora metallica female

Somatochlora, or the striped emeralds,[2] is a genus of dragonflies in the family Corduliidae with 42 described species found across the Northern Hemisphere.[3]

Taxonomy

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The name Somatochlora is derived from the Greek soma (body) and khloros (green).[4] The species Corduliochlora borisi was formerly treated as a member of Somatochlora.[3]

Description

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Newly emerged male S. albicincta on its exuvia

Members of this genus are medium-sized dragonflies with dark bodies and a metallic green lustre. The eyes are brilliant green, and many species have dull to bright yellow markings on the thorax and/or abdomen. The abdomens of males are distinctive, with the first two segments bulbous-shaped, the third constricted, and the rest of the abdomen club-shaped with a straight ending. Females have abdomens with straighter sides.[2] Identifying these dragonflies to species can be difficult.[4] The cerci of males, on the tip of the abdomen, are distinctively shaped in each species, as are the subgenital plates on female abdomens. In some species, the subgenital plate is large and projecting, and is used as a "pseudo-ovipositor" for inserting eggs into a substrate.[2]

Distribution

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Illustration showing male cerci of several species of Somatochlora

Somatochlora species are found across the Northern Hemisphere in Europe, Asia, and North America, with some species extending into arctic regions north of the treeline.[5] Some species extend south to Spain,[6] Turkey,[7] northern India,[8] northern Vietnam,[8] Taiwan[9] and the Southern United States.[10] At least one species, S. semicircularis, may be found at altitudes up to 3,700 m (12,100 ft).[11] In North America, most species live in the boreal forest and/or the Appalachian Mountains.[4]

Life history

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Mating pair of Somatochlora flavomaculata

Somatochlora larvae typically live in bogs, fens, and/or forest streams, with some species found in lakes. They do not occur in marshy ponds.[2] Many species are limited to very specific habitats and are rare and local. Adults feed in flight and may occur at some distance from their breeding habitat in mixed swarms.[2]

Species

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Larvae of several Somatochlora species

Somatochlora is the most diverse group within the Corduliidae.[2] Of the 42 described species listed below, 25 are North American, 16 are Eurasian, and one is circumboreal (S. sahlbergi). Two additional fossil species have been assigned to this genus: S. brisaci, based on a wing from the Upper Miocene in France, and S. oregonica, based on two wings from the Oligocene in Oregon.[1][12]

Image Species[3] Common Name(s)[13][14][15] Distribution
Somatochlora albicincta (Burmeister, 1839) ringed emerald Canada, northern United States[10]
Somatochlora alpestris (Selys, 1840) alpine emerald Europe and Asia[16][9]
Somatochlora arctica (Zetterstedt, 1840) northern emerald Europe and Asia[16][9]
Somatochlora brevicincta Robert, 1954 Quebec emerald Canada, northern United States[10]
Somatochlora calverti Williamson & Gloyd, 1933 Calvert's emerald southeastern United States[10]
Somatochlora cingulata (Selys, 1871) lake emerald Canada, northern United States[10]
Somatochlora clavata Oguma, 1922 Japan and Korea[17]
Somatochlora daviesi Lieftinck, 1977 Bhutan, Nepal, and India[8][18][19]
Somatochlora dido Needham, 1930 China and Vietnam[8]
Somatochlora elongata (Scudder, 1866) ski-tipped emerald, ski-tailed emerald northeastern North America[10]
Somatochlora ensigera Martin, 1907 plains emerald central North America[10]
Somatochlora exuberata Bartenev, 1910 Japan and eastern Russia[17]
Somatochlora filosa (Hagen, 1861) fine-lined emerald southeastern United States[10]
Somatochlora flavomaculata (Vander Linden, 1825) yellow-spotted emerald Europe[17]
Somatochlora forcipata (Scudder, 1866) forcipate emerald Canada, northern United States[10]
Somatochlora franklini (Selys, 1878) delicate emerald Canada, northern United States[10]
Somatochlora georgiana Walker, 1925 coppery emerald eastern United States[10]
Somatochlora graeseri Selys, 1887 east Asia[17]
Somatochlora hineana Williamson, 1931 Hine's emerald Ontario and midwest United States[10]
Somatochlora hudsonica (Hagen in Selys, 1871) Hudsonian emerald western and central Canada, northwestern United States[10]
Somatochlora incurvata Walker, 1918 incurvate emerald northeastern North America[10]
Somatochlora kennedyi Walker, 1918 Kennedy's emerald Canada, northeastern United States[10]
Somatochlora linearis (Hagen, 1861) mocha emerald eastern North America[10]
Somatochlora lingyinensis Zhou & Wa, 1979 Zhejiang[9]
Somatochlora margarita Donnelly, 1962 Texas emerald Texas and Louisiana[10]
Somatochlora meridionalis Nielsen, 1935 Balkan emerald southeastern Europe[20]
Somatochlora metallica (Vander Linden, 1825) brilliant emerald Europe[8]
Somatochlora minor Calvert, 1898 ocellated emerald Canada, northern United States[10]
Somatochlora ozarkensis Bird, 1933 Ozark emerald Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma[10]
Somatochlora provocans Calvert, 1903 treetop emerald southeastern United States[10]
Somatochlora sahlbergi Trybom, 1889 treeline emerald northwestern Canada, Alaska, northern Russia, Scandinavia[10][8]
Somatochlora semicircularis (Selys, 1871) mountain emerald western North America[10]
Somatochlora septentrionalis (Hagen, 1861) muskeg emerald Canada[10]
Somatochlora shanxiensis Zhu & Zhang, 1999 Hubei, Shanxi[9]
Somatochlora shennong Zhang, Vogt & Cai, 2014 Guangxi, Hubei[9]
Somatochlora taiwana Inoue & Yokota 2001 Taiwan[9]
Somatochlora tenebrosa (Say, 1840) clamp-tipped emerald eastern North America[10]
Somatochlora uchidai Förster, 1909 Japan, China and Russia[21]
Somatochlora viridiaenea (Uhler, 1858) Japan, eastern Russia[17]
Somatochlora walshii (Scudder, 1866) brush-tipped emerald Canada, northern United States[10]
Somatochlora whitehousei Walker, 1925 Whitehouse's emerald Canada, northwestern United States[10]
Somatochlora williamsoni Walker, 1907 Williamson's emerald eastern North America[10]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Somatochlora". Fossilworks. Macquarie University. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Paulson, Dennis (2011). Dragonflies and Damselflies of the East. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. pp. 345–346.
  3. ^ a b c Paulson, D.; Schorr, M.; Abbott, J.; Bota-Sierra, C.; Deliry, C.; Dijkstra, K.-D.; Lozano, F. (2024). "World Odonata List". OdonataCentral, University of Alabama.
  4. ^ a b c "Somatochlora (Striped Emeralds)". Living Landscapes - Dragonflies. Royal BC Museum. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
  5. ^ Cannings, S. G.; Cannings, R. A. (1985). "The larva of Somatochlora sahlbergi Trybŏm, with notes on the species in the Yukon Territory, Canada (Anisoptera: Corduliidae)". Odonatologica. 14 (4): 319–330.
  6. ^ Muddeman, John; Lockwood, Mike; Farino, Teresa. "List of the Dragonflies and Damselflies (Odonata) of Spain and Portugal, including the Canary Islands, Madeira and the Azores". Iberian Wildlife Tours. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
  7. ^ Kalkman, Vincent J.; Wasscher, Marcel (2003). "An annotated checklist of the Odonata of Turkey". Odonatologica. 32 (3): 215–236.
  8. ^ a b c d e f "IUCN Red List Species Summaries". IUCN Red List. IUCN. Retrieved 24 February 2020.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g Zhang, Hao-Miao; Vogt, Timothy E.; Cai, Qing-hua (2014). "Somatochlora shennong sp. nov. from Hubei, China (Odonata: Corduliidae)". Zootaxa.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa "NatureServe Species Pages". NatureServe Explorer. NatureServe. Retrieved 24 February 2020.
  11. ^ Willey, Ruth L. (1974). "Emergence Patterns of the Subalpine Dragonfly Somatochlora Semicircularis (Odonata: Corduliidae)". Psyche: A Journal of Entomology. 81 (1): 121–133.
  12. ^ Cockerell, T. D. A. (1927). "Tertiary Fossil Insects from Eastern Oregon". Additions to the Paleontology of the Pacific Coast and Great Basin Regions of North America. 346: 64–65.
  13. ^ "Checklist, English common names". DragonflyPix.com. Archived from the original on 4 December 2012. Retrieved 5 August 2010.
  14. ^ "Checklist of UK Species". British Dragonfly Society. Retrieved 28 May 2011.
  15. ^ "North American Odonata". University of Puget Sound. 2009. Retrieved 5 August 2010.
  16. ^ a b De Knijf, Geert; Flenker, Ulrich; Vanappelghem, Ceedric; Manci, Cosmin O.; Kalkman, Vincent J.; Demolder, Heidi (2011). "The status of two boreo-alpine species, Somatochlora alpestris and S. arctica, in Romania and their vulnerability to the impact of climate change (Odonata: Corduliidae)". International Journal of Odonatology. 14 (2): 111–126.
  17. ^ a b c d e "GBIF Species Mapping". GBIF. GBIF. Retrieved 24 February 2020.
  18. ^ Kalkman, V.J.; Babu, R.; Bedjanic, M.; Conniff, K.; Gyeltshen, T.; Khan, M.K.; Subramanian, K.A.; Zia, A.; Orr, A.G. (2020). "Checklist of the dragonflies and damselflies (Insecta: Odonata) of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka". Zootaxa. 4849 (1): 001–084. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4849.1.1. hdl:10072/398768.
  19. ^ Asahina, S (1982). "A new Somatochlora from Nepal (Corduliidae)". Tombo. 25: 15–18.
  20. ^ Holusa, Otakar (2009). "Notes to the first record of Somatochlora meridionalis (Odonata: Corduliidae) in the Czech Republic". Acta Mus. Beskid. 1: 89–95.
  21. ^ "Somatochlora uchidai". Odonata of Japan. Retrieved 11 March 2020.