Synlestidae

Synlestidae
Chlorolestes tessellatus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Clade: Pancrustacea
Class: Insecta
Order: Odonata
Suborder: Zygoptera
Superfamily: Lestoidea
Family: Synlestidae
Tillyard, 1917
Map showing global distribution of Synlestidae
Distribution of Synlestidae
Synonyms
  • Chlorolestidae Fraser, 1951

Synlestidae is a family of damselflies commonly known as sylphs or malachites. The family includes nine living genera distributed across sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, Australia and the Caribbean. Members are typically large, slender damselflies with metallic green, bronze or black coloration and pale markings, and many species rest with their wings partly spread.

Description

Most synlestids inhabit streams and rivers, particularly in forested habitats. The larvae are aquatic and possess short, vertically held caudal gills.

Taxonomic history

Tillyard established Synlestinae in 1917 for the Australian genus Synlestes. He subsequently recognised Synlestidae at family rank in 1926, a classification retained by Tillyard and Fraser in 1938.

In 1951, Fraser introduced Chlorolestidae, placing Synlestes and related genera in the subfamily Chlorolestinae. The name Chlorolestidae subsequently became widely used, but in 1985 Theischinger and Watson explicitly recognised the priority of Synlestidae Tillyard, 1917 over Chlorolestidae. This treatment was followed in later classifications.

The limits of Synlestidae have subsequently been refined through morphological and molecular studies, and its placement is currently within the superfamily Lestoidea.

Genera

The following genera are currently placed in Synlestidae:

Fossil record

Synlestidae has a modest fossil record extending from the Cretaceous to the Eocene, indicating a wider historical distribution than that of its living representatives.

Fossil genera

The following fossil genera are currently placed in Synlestidae:

Etymology

The family name Synlestidae is derived from the type genus Synlestes, with the standard zoological suffix -idae used for animal families.

The genus name Synlestes is derived from the Greek σύν (syn, "together"), combined with Lestes, a genus name derived from the Greek λῃστής (lēstēs, "robber"), indicating resemblance to that genus.

References

  1. 1 2 Tillyard, R.J. (1917). The biology of dragonflies (Odonata or Paraneuroptera). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 396 [277]. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.35170.
  2. 1 2 3 Dijkstra, K.D.B.; et al. (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. hdl:10072/61365.
  3. 1 2 Synlestidae. Identification & Ecology of Australian Freshwater Invertebrates. Murray-Darling Basin Authority.
  4. ↑ "Family SYNLESTIDAE". Australian Faunal Directory. Australian Biological Resources Study. 2014. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
  5. ↑ "Synlestidae". GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset. GBIF Secretariat. 2023. doi:10.15468/39omei. Retrieved 1 June 2026.
  6. 1 2 Silsby, Jill (2001). Dragonflies of the World. CSIRO Publishing. p. 87. ISBN 0643065121.
  7. 1 2 3 Theischinger, Günther; Hawking, John (2021). The Complete Field Guide to Dragonflies of Australia (2nd ed.). Melbourne, Australia: CSIRO Publishing. ISBN 9781486313747.
  8. ↑ Tillyard, R. J. (1926). The Insects of Australia and New Zealand (PDF). Sydney: Angus & Robertson. pp. xv, 1–560 [78].
  9. ↑ Tillyard, R.J.; Fraser, F.C. (1938). "A reclassification of the order Odonata based on some new interpretations of the venation of the dragonfly wing. Part I". The Australian Zoologist. 9 (2): 125–169 [154] – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
  10. ↑ Fraser, F.C. (1951). "Outline of a new classification of the legion Lestes Selys (order Odonata)". Entomological News. 62 (2): 61–69 [63].
  11. ↑ Theischinger, G.; Watson, J. A. L. (1985). "The genus Episynlestes Kennedy (Odonata: Synlestidae)". Journal of the Australian Entomological Society. 24: 143–148. doi:10.5281/zenodo.3515948.
  12. ↑ Bridges, Charles A. (1994). Catalogue of the family-group, genus-group and species-group names of the Odonata of the world (3rd ed.). Urbana, Illinois: Charles A. Bridges. p. II.1. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.15291.
  13. ↑ Bybee, S. M.; Kalkman, V. J.; Erickson, R. J.; Frandsen, P. B.; Breinholt, J. W.; Suvorov, A.; Ware, J. L. (2021). "Phylogeny and classification of Odonata using targeted genomics". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 160 107115: 1–15. Bibcode:2021MolPE.16007115B. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2021.107115. hdl:11093/2768. PMID 33609713.
  14. 1 2 "Paleobiology Database: Synlestidae". Paleobiology Database. Retrieved 1 June 2026.
  15. ↑ Vasilenko, D. V. (2005). New damselflies (Odonata: Synlestidae, Hemiphlebiidae) from the Mesozoic Transbaikalian locality of Chernovskie Kopi. Paleontologicheskii Zhurnal 39(3), 280–83.
  16. ↑ Endersby, Ian; Fliedner, Heinrich (2015). The Naming of Australia's Dragonflies. Eltham, Victoria, Australia: Busybird Publishing. ISBN 9781925260625.