Perilestidae
| Perilestidae Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Perissolestes guianensis | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Clade: | Pancrustacea |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Odonata |
| Suborder: | Zygoptera |
| Superfamily: | Lestoidea |
| Family: | Perilestidae Kennedy, 1920[1] |
 | |
| Distribution of Perilestidae | |
Perilestidae is a family of damselflies commonly known as shortwings or twigtails.[2] The family includes about 20 living species in two genera, all of which occur in the tropical regions of the Americas.[3][4] Members of the family are characterised by their very long, slender abdomens and relatively short wings, giving them a distinctive twig-like appearance.[5][2]
Classification
Perilestidae was established by Kennedy in 1920 as Perilestinae, based on the Neotropical genus Perilestes.[1] Modern studies support the family as a distinct lineage within the superfamily Lestoidea.[6][7] The African genus Nubiolestes, formerly included in Perilestidae, was transferred to Synlestidae by Dijkstra and colleagues (2013).[6]
Description
Perilestids are slender forest damselflies with very long, narrow abdomens and comparatively short wings.[2][5] They typically inhabit shaded tropical forests, where they rest among vegetation with the abdomen hanging vertically.[8][5]
Genera
The following genera are currently placed in Perilestidae:[3]
- Perilestes Hagen in Selys, 1862
- Perissolestes Kennedy, 1941
Fossils
The fossil record of Perilestidae consists of the extinct genus †Palaeoperilestes, described from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber.[9]
- †Palaeoperilestes Zheng et al. 2016
References
- 1 2 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 [25] – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
- 1 2 3 Haber, W. and Wagner, D. Perilestidae: Shortwings. Dragonflies and Damselflies of Ecuador.
- 1 2 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.
- ↑ Neiss, U. G. and Neusa, H. (2010). The larva of Perilestes attenuatus Selys, 1886 (Odonata: Perilestidae) from Amazonas, Brazil. Zootaxa 2614 53–58.
- 1 2 3 Silsby, Jill (2001). Dragonflies of the World. CSIRO Publishing. p. 102. ISBN 0643065121.
- 1 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 (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. ISSN 1175-5334.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ Machado, A. (2015). Perilestes eustaquioi sp. nov. and new distributional records of Perilestidae (Odonata) in Brazil. Zoologia (Curitiba), 32(5), 428–430.
- ↑ Zheng, Daran; Wang, Bo; Jarzembowski, Edmund A.; Chang, Su-Chin; Nel, André (2016-10-01). "The first fossil Perilestidae (Odonata: Zygoptera) from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber" (PDF). Cretaceous Research. 65: 199–205. Bibcode:2016CrRes..65..199Z. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2016.05.002. hdl:10722/231813.