Hemiphlebia mirabilis

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Ancient greenling
Hemiphlebia mirabilis LongSwamp091113-5940.jpg
mating pair

Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification edit
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Odonata
Suborder: Zygoptera
Family: Hemiphlebiidae
Kennedy, 1920[4]
Genus: Hemiphlebia
Selys, 1869[3]
Species:
H. mirabilis
Binomial name
Hemiphlebia mirabilis
Selys, 1869[2]
Hemiphlebia mirabilis distribution map.svg

Hemiphlebia mirabilis, commonly known as the ancient greenling,[5] is a species of damselfly in the family Hemiphlebiidae.[6] It is very small with a long, metallic-green body and clear wings. It is endemic to south-eastern Australia. Its natural swamp habitat is threatened by habitat loss.

This is the only living species of the genus Hemiphlebia and the family Hemiphlebiidae.[7] The oldest representatives of the family date to the Late Jurassic.

Distribution and habitat[]

The ancient greenling has been recorded from a small number of scattered sites, including on King Island and in Mount William, Tasmania; in Wilsons Promontory National Park and near Yea, Victoria; and in Piccaninnie Ponds Conservation Park in south-eastern South Australia. Its recorded habitat includes permanent freshwater ponds, riverine lagoons and swamps that may dry out seasonally.[1] A favoured site discovered in 2008, Long Swamp in the Discovery Bay Coastal Park of south-western Victoria, contains extensive areas of twig-rush (Baumea sp.) which is seasonally flooded but dries out by late summer[8][5]

Conservation[]

The greenling's conservation status was raised from Vulnerable to Endangered in 2008 because of the limited area of habitat occupied, as well as the small and scattered character of the populations, at least some of which were in decline.[1]

Gallery[]

  • Female wings

  • Male wings

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c Dow, R.A. 2019. Hemiphlebia mirabilis. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2019: e.T9891A14278529. Downloaded on 26 July 2019.
  2. ^ Selys-Longchamps, E. (1869). "Diagnose d'un nouveau genre d'Agrionine". Annales de la Société Entomologique de Belgique (Comptes-rendus) (in French). 11: lxxi-lxxiv [lxxiii] – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
  3. ^ Selys-Longchamps, E. (1869). "Diagnose d'un nouveau genre d'Agrionine". Annales de la Société Entomologique de Belgique (Comptes-rendus) (in French). 11: lxxi-lxxiv [lxxii] – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b Theischinger, Günther; Hawking, John (2006). The Complete Field Guide to Dragonflies of Australia. CSIRO Publishing. p. 22. ISBN 0-643-09073-8.
  6. ^ "Species Hemiphlebia mirabilis Selys, 1869". Australian Faunal Directory. Australian Biological Resources Study. 2013. Retrieved 30 March 2017.
  7. ^ Vasilenko, D. V. (2005). "New damselflies (Odonata: Synlestidae, Hemiphlebiidae) from the Mesozoic Transbaikalian locality of Chernovskie Kopi" (PDF). Paleontologicheskii Zhurnal. 39 (3): 280.
  8. ^ Richter, Reiner (2010-06-18). "Discovery of New Populations of Hemiphlebia mirabilis (Ancient Greenling)" (PDF). Author. Retrieved 2011-03-26.
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