Libelluloidea Explained

Libelluloidea is a superfamily of dragonflies.

A 2013 phylogenetic analysis suggests that this superfamily contains four families:^[1]

• Corduliidae Selys, 1850
• Libellulidae Leach, 1815
• Macromiidae Needham, 1903
• Synthemistidae Tillyard, 1911

Recent taxonomic changes

The following dragonfly families are now considered invalid or potentially disputed:^{[1] [2] [3]}

• Pseudocorduliidae
• Gomphomacromiidae
• Cordulephyidae
• Austrocorduliidae
• Oxygastridae
• Idomacromiidae
• Hemicorduliidae
• Urothemistidae

The following genera are no longer assigned to a family and are now placed incertae sedis within this superfamily, Libelluloidea:^[1]

• Apocordulia
• Archaeophya
• Austrocordulia
• Austrophya
• Cordulephya
• Gomphomacromia
• Hesperocordulia
• Idionyx
• Idomacromia
• Lathrocordulia
• Lauromacromia
• Macromidia
• Micromidia
• Neocordulia
• Neophya
• Nesocordulia
• Oxygastra
• Pseudocordulia
• Syncordulia

Fossils

The following extinct fossil taxa are also included in Libelluloidea:^{[4] [5]}

• †Araripelibellulidae Bechly, 1996
• †Araripephlebiidae Bechly, 1998
• †Bolcacorduliidae Gentilini, 2002
• †Eocorduliidae Bechly, 1996
• †Palaeomacromiidae Petrulevicius et al. 1999
• †Valdicorduliidae Bechly, 1996
• †Urolibellulidae Zeiri, Nel, & Garrouste, 2015

This superfamily is one of two extant groups in the large, ancient clade Cavilabiata, in addition to Cordulegastroidea.^[6] The oldest known member is Araripelibellula brittanica from the Berriasian of England.^[7]

Notes and References

1. Dijkstra . Klaas-Douwe B. . Bechly . Günter . Bybee . Seth M. . Dow . Rory A. . Dumont . Henri J. . Fleck . Günther . Garrison . Rosser W. . Hämäläinen . Matti . Kalkman . Vincent J. . Karube . Haruki . May . Michael L. . Orr . Albert G. . Paulson . Dennis R. . Rehn . Andrew C. . Theischinger . Günther . Trueman . John W.H. . Van Tol . Jan . von Ellenrieder . Natalia . Ware . Jessica . 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 . en . 3703 . 1 . 36–45 . 10.11646/zootaxa.3703.1.9 . free . 10072/61365 . free . 1175-5334 .
2. Ware, J., May, M., & Kjer, K. (2007). Phylogeny of the higher Libelluloidea (Anisoptera: Odonata): an exploration of the most speciose superfamily of dragonflies. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 45(1), 289-310.
3. Carle, F. L., Kjer, K. M., & May, M. L. (2008). Evolution of Odonata, with special reference to Coenagrionoidea (Zygoptera). Arthropod Systematics & Phylogeny, 66(1), 37-44.
4. Sroka . Steven D. . Howells . Thomas F. . Nel . André . 2023 . A new transitional "libelluloid" family of odonates with Mesozoic affinities in the Eocene Green River Formation of Utah, USA . Acta Palaeontologica Polonica . en . 68 . 2 . 337–342 . 2024-08-24 .
5. Petrulevičius . Julián F . Nel . André . 2003-07-01 . A new libelluloid dragonfly (Insecta: Odonata: Italoansida) from the late Paleocene of Argentina . Geobios . 36 . 4 . 401–406 . 10.1016/S0016-6995(03)00039-1 . 0016-6995.
6. Lin . Qi-Bin . Huang . Di-Ying . Nel . A. . 2007-05-10 . A new family of Cavilabiata from the Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation, China (Odonata: Anisoptera) . Zootaxa . en . 1469 . 1 . 59–64 . 10.11646/zootaxa.1469.1.4 . 1175-5334.
7. Web site: PBDB Taxon . 2024-08-24 . paleobiodb.org.