Genus of damselflies
Mecistogaster is a genus of large Neotropical damselflies in the family Coenagrionidae , commonly known as helicopter damsels . There are eleven species distributed from Mexico to Argentina .[ 1]
Members of this genus have very long abdomens which they use to deposit their eggs in the water-filled rosettes of bromeliads growing on trees in the forest.[ 2]
Species include:
Mecistogaster amalia (Burmeister, 1839) – Amalia Helicopter[ 3]
Mecistogaster amazonica Sjöstedt, 1918
Mecistogaster asticta Selys, 1860
Mecistogaster buckleyi McLachlan, 1881 – Blue-tipped Helicopter[ 4]
Mecistogaster jocaste Hagen, 1869
Mecistogaster linearis (Fabricius, 1776)
Mecistogaster lucretia (Drury, 1773)
Mecistogaster martinezi Machado, 1985 (nomen obscurum)
Mecistogaster modesta Selys, 1860
Mecistogaster ornata Rambur, 1842 – Ornate Helicopter[ 5]
Mecistogaster pronoti Sjöstedt, 1918 – Atlantic Helicopter[ 6]
^ Irusta, J. B., & Lencioni, F. A. A. (2015). First record of Pseudostigmatidae (Insecta: Odonata) in the Northeast Region of Brazil. Check List , 11(2), 1565.
^ Silsby, Jill (2001). Dragonflies of the World . Csiro Publishing. p. 14. ISBN 978-0-643-10249-1 .
^ von Ellenrieder, N. & Paulson, D. (2006). "Mecistogaster amalia " . IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2006 : e.T59739A12010532. doi :10.2305/IUCN.UK.2006.RLTS.T59739A12010532.en .
^ von Ellenrieder, N. (2009). "Mecistogaster buckleyi " . IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2009 : e.T159012A5306474. doi :10.2305/IUCN.UK.2009-2.RLTS.T159012A5306474.en .
^ von Ellenrieder, N. (2009). "Mecistogaster ornata " . IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2009 : e.T158808A5276319. doi :10.2305/IUCN.UK.2009-2.RLTS.T158808A5276319.en .
^ von Ellenrieder, N. & Paulson, D. (2006). "Mecistogaster pronoti " . IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2006 : e.T12921A3398561. doi :10.2305/IUCN.UK.2006.RLTS.T12921A3398561.en .