Anisoptera

Intended Anisoptera

Record evidence that the registry denotes the odonate group and identify the taxonomic authority used.

1. What registry provenance establishes that this entry denotes dragonflies rather than the plant genus? provenance
2. Which taxonomic treatment defines membership and the boundary with neighbouring odonate groups? boundary

Supported identification

Retain visible characters, alternative identifications, key provenance and the narrowest supported determination.

1. Which wing, eye, appendage or larval characters are actually visible, and which are obscured or damaged? measurement
2. What stage-appropriate regional key or expert determination supports excluding damselflies and other alternatives? provenance

Stage and maturity evidence

Record the observed stage and evidence for finer maturity assignments; leave unsupported age estimates unresolved.

1. What anatomical or directly observed developmental evidence supports the assigned stage? definition
2. Can instar or adult maturity be determined for this taxon, or must it remain unresolved? boundary

Emergence outcome

Record progress and outcome of the final larval moult and the strength of any adult-exuvia association. [British Dragonfly Society](https://british-dragonflies.org.uk/odonata/life-cycle-and-biology/)

1. Was emergence observed continuously, and what supports linking this adult to this exuvia? provenance
2. Did emergence progress to wing expansion and departure, remain ongoing, or show an observed failure? measurement

Observed impairment

Separate damaged structures and demonstrated functional limitations from inactivity with an unknown cause.

1. What wing, leg or abdominal damage is visible, and what movement or attachment ability was observed? measurement
2. Could developmental state or observation conditions explain inactivity without establishing injury? boundary

Behavioural event evidence

Keep pursuit, prey capture, tandem formation, mating and oviposition distinguishable.

1. What observed sequence supports classifying the event as feeding, mating or oviposition? definition
2. Which participants, prey or deposition substrates can be identified, and with what uncertainty? measurement

Developmental microhabitat

Describe observed substrate, vegetation, water conditions and access to emergence supports without assigning universal suitability thresholds.

1. Where was the larva or exuvia found relative to water, substrate, vegetation and possible emergence supports? measurement
2. Which habitat requirements are supported for the identified taxon and stage rather than assumed for all dragonflies? provenance

Local development evidence

Evaluate adult sightings, larvae, oviposition and emergence evidence separately, retaining survey effort and repeat-visit context.

1. Does the evidence establish adult presence, reproductive activity, larval occupancy or completed emergence? boundary
2. What survey timing, duration, weather and life-stage coverage constrain conclusions from non-detection? measurement

Next useful observation

Specify the additional view, measurement or expert review needed and whether it requires disturbance.

1. Would a dorsal wing view, lateral body view, abdominal-tip detail or exuvia examination resolve the uncertainty? action
2. Can the required evidence be obtained without disturbing emergence or capturing the organism? action

Stage-sensitive action decision

Record the intervention purpose, expected effect, applicable permissions and unresolved biological dependencies.

1. How could the proposed action affect this larva, emerging adult, oviposition substrate or emergence support? action
2. What taxon-specific evidence, local authorization and outcome monitoring are required before proceeding? action

Kinds and varieties

Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.

• Aeshnidae (hawkers or darners)
• Gomphidae (clubtails)
• Libellulidae (skimmers)
• Corduliidae (emeralds)
• Cordulegastridae (spiketails or biddies)
• Petaluridae (petaltails)
• Macromiidae (cruisers)
• Synthemistidae (tigertails)

1. Which of these kinds and varieties hold for the sense of Anisoptera this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance

Identifiers and schemes

Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.

• Wikidata - Q80066 - Insect suborder; do not use Q2850145, which is the dipterocarp genus.
• ITIS TSN - 101594 - Anisoptera Selys, 1854, valid suborder of Odonata.
• Catalogue of Life - 9WLT3 - Accepted suborder; species counts drawn from the World Odonata List.
• Encyclopedia of Life - 2762968 - EOL page for dragonflies / Anisoptera.
• iNaturalist taxon - 47927 - Citizen-science taxon id for the insect clade.
• Fauna Europaea - 11840 - European fauna identifier recorded on Wikidata.
• BugGuide taxon - 191 - North American identification resource taxon id.
• Zoological name - Anisoptera Selys, 1854 - Authorship as given by ITIS and Catalogue of Life; rank is suborder or infraorder depending on the authority.

1. Which of these identifiers and schemes hold for the sense of Anisoptera this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance

Standards and regulation

Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.

• International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature) - governs availability and priority of the zoological name Anisoptera Selys, 1854.
• World Odonata List (Puget Sound Museum of Natural History / OdonataCentral; Paulson and co-editors) - de facto global working checklist, treating Anisoptera as a suborder and listing accepted species.
• Dijkstra, Bechly, Bybee and others, 2013, The classification and diversity of dragonflies and damselflies (Odonata), Zootaxa 3703 - reference classification cited by the World Odonata List.

1. Which of these standards and regulation hold for the sense of Anisoptera this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance

Real-world use

Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.

• Field identification and wetland survey of adults, larvae and exuviae, including citizen-science recording against checklists such as the World Odonata List.
• Aquatic nymphs occupy standing or running fresh waters and are sampled as part of freshwater invertebrate assemblages; larger nymphs take tadpoles and small fish.
• Adults are aerial predators that hunt other insects, often over or near water, and some species (notably Pantala flavescens) form long-distance migratory aggregations.
• Caught for food in Indonesia; used in traditional medicine in Japan and China.
• Appear as cultural motifs (pottery, jewellery, Japanese tombo symbolism) and as a common subject of natural-history photography.

1. Which of these real-world use hold for the sense of Anisoptera this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance

Typical measurements

Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.

• extant species richness - about 3100-3123 - species
• adult lifespan - a few days to about 10 weeks; most species about 5 weeks or less - weeks
• nymphal (naiad) duration - months in many species, up to 5 years in some - years
• ommatidia per compound eye - up to about 22650-23890 in large species (Aeshna interrupta, Petalura gigantea); Wikipedia cites nearly 24000 - count
• adult body length (Aeshnidae, a typical large-bodied family) - about 6-9 - cm
• altitudinal limit - to about 3700 (Aeshna in the Pamirs) - m
• shade temperature of activity in Mojave Desert populations - 18-45 - °C

1. Which of these typical measurements hold for the sense of Anisoptera this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance

Failure modes and hazards

Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.

• Wetland drainage and other larval-habitat loss are the main recorded threat to populations worldwide.
• Most species require waters that are neither strongly eutrophic nor strongly acidic; nutrient enrichment, acidification or desiccation of pools can eliminate local nymphal cohorts.
• Freshly emerged (teneral) adults are pale, soft and flight-weak, and emergence at the water's edge is a high-mortality window.
• Larger nymphs prey on tadpoles and small fish, so they can be a predation pressure in small ponds and aquaculture.
• Adults cannot walk on their legs and are easily damaged by handling; wings held open at rest are vulnerable to tearing.
• The name is a homonym of a threatened dipterocarp tree genus, so un-disambiguated records can attach insect data to a plant taxon or the reverse.

1. Which of these failure modes and hazards hold for the sense of Anisoptera this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance

Regional variation

Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.

• English vernaculars split the same families differently: Aeshnidae are hawkers in British usage and darners in North America; Libellulidae include skimmers, chasers and darters depending on region.
• World Odonata List and ITIS rank Anisoptera as a suborder of Odonata; Wikipedia and several phylogenetic papers rank it as an infraorder of Epiprocta, with Epiophlebia (Anisozygoptera) as sister.
• Species richness is highest in the tropics (especially Indomalaya and the Neotropics for Gomphidae and Libellulidae); temperate faunas are much smaller, and the group is absent as a breeding fauna from Antarctica and Iceland.
• Habitat practice splits by family: Gomphidae are largely running-water taxa, Libellulidae largely still-water taxa.
• Cultural reading differs: Japan treats dragonflies as emblems of courage and happiness; much European folklore treats them as sinister.
• French uses libellules for the group; iNaturalist also records the English vernacular mosquito hawks.

1. Which of these regional variation hold for the sense of Anisoptera this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance

Neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart

Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.

• Zygoptera (damselflies) - Adult Anisoptera hold the wings open and have hindwings broader than the forewings; most Zygoptera fold similar-shaped wings over the abdomen and have widely separated eyes. Anisopteran nymphs lack the three external caudal lamellae of zygopteran nymphs and instead pump water through an internal rectal gill chamber.
• Epiophlebia / Anisozygoptera - Extant sister group to Anisoptera within Epiprocta (three living species). Adults mix damselfly-like and dragonfly-like characters, including separated eyes (shared with Gomphidae and Petaluridae, so eye contact alone does not diagnose Anisoptera). World Odonata List keeps Anisozygoptera as a separate suborder.
• Meganisoptera (griffenflies, e.g. Meganeura) - Carboniferous-Permian odonatopteran relatives, not crown Anisoptera; wingspans reached about 680-750 mm. True Anisoptera appear in the Early Jurassic Toarcian.
• Anisoptera Korth. (Dipterocarpaceae) - A plant genus of ten Southeast Asian trees whose name is a homonym. Separate by kingdom and identifier: insect Wikidata Q80066 / ITIS 101594 versus plant Wikidata Q2850145 / IPNI 14351-1.

1. Which of these neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart hold for the sense of Anisoptera this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance