Sympetrum

Darters or
Meadowhawks
Sympetrum fonscolombii
White-faced Meadowhawks (Sympetrum obtrusum) in "wheel position", Shirleys Bay, Ottawa
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Clade: Pancrustacea
Class: Insecta
Order: Odonata
Suborder: Anisoptera
Superfamily: Libelluloidea
Family: Libellulidae
Subfamily: Sympetrinae
Genus: Sympetrum
Newman, 1833
Hybrid mating between male S. meridionale (top) and female S. fonscolombii (bottom)
Sympetrum commixtum, Nepal
Sympetrum vicinum mating

Sympetrum is a genus of small to medium-sized skimmer dragonflies, known as darters in Europe and as meadowhawks in North America. The more than 50 species predominantly live in the temperate zone of the Northern Hemisphere; 11 species are native to Europe and 15 species native to North America, and most of the rest in Asia. A few species also occur in tropical and southern Africa (S. fonscolombii) and in South America (S. evanescens, S. gilvum, S. roraimae, S. villosum), but none is native to Australasia.

Most species fly in late summer and autumn, breeding in ponds and foraging over meadows. Commonly, they are yellow-gold as juveniles, with mature males and some females becoming bright red or orange-red on part or all of their bodies. An exception to this scheme is the Holarctic black darter or black meadowhawk (Sympetrum danae), which has black males with no red.

The genus includes the following species:

References

  1. 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.
  2. ↑ Smallshire, Dave; Swash, Andy (14 July 2020). Europe's Dragonflies. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. pp. 300–301. ISBN 978-0-691-16895-1.
  3. ↑ Needham, James G.; Minter J. Westfall Jr.; Michael L. May (2000). Dragonflies of North America (rev. ed.). Gainesville, FL: Scientific Publishers. p. 795. ISBN 0-945417-94-2.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 "North American Odonata". University of Puget Sound. 2009. Retrieved 5 August 2010.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "British Dragonfly Society Species Checklist". British Dragonfly Society. Retrieved 25 March 2026.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "Checklist, English common names". DragonflyPix.com. Retrieved 5 August 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  7. ↑ Suhling, F. & Martens, A. (2011). "Sympetrum dilatatum". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2011 e.T21226A9259879. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2011-1.RLTS.T21226A9259879.en.
  8. ↑ Samways, Michael J. (2008). Dragonflies and damselflies of South Africa (1st ed.). Sofia: Pensoft. ISBN 978-954-642-330-6.
  9. ↑ Autumn Darter, Kochi
  10. ↑ Clausnitzer, V. (2009). "Sympetrum haritonovi". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2009 e.T158697A5261939. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2009-2.RLTS.T158697A5261939.en.
  11. ↑ Clausnitzer, V.; Kalkman, V.J. (2020). "Sympetrum nigrifemur". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2020 e.T60292A140601430. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T60292A140601430.en.
  12. ↑ Paulson, D. R. (2009). "Sympetrum nigrocreatum". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2009 e.T164924A5939416. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2009-2.RLTS.T164924A5939416.en.
  13. ↑ Dunkle, S. W. (2000). Dragonflies through Binoculars. OUP.