Gomphaeschna

Gomphaeschna Temporal range:
Gomphaeschna furcillata
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Odonata
Infraorder:	Anisoptera
Family:	Aeshnidae
Genus:	GomphaeschnaSelys, 1871

Gomphaeschna is a genus of pygmy darners in the dragonfly family Aeshnidae. There are two extant species in Gomphaeschna, both native to eastern North America. In addition, multiple fossil species are known from Eurasia and western North America.^{[1][2][3][4][5]} Some authorities treat it as belonging to its own family, Gomphaeschnidae, due to its ancient origins.^[6]

This is one of the most ancient known extant dragonfly genera, with the species G. inferna known from the earliest Cretaceous (Berriasian) of Russia, making it one of the earliest crown group aeshnids.^[6][7] They appear to have persisted in Europe up to the mid-Miocene, but in modern times are restricted to eastern North America.^[8]

Species

These two species belong to the genus Gomphaeschna:

• Gomphaeschna antilope(Hagen, 1874) (taper-tailed darner)
• Gomphaeschna furcillata(Say, 1840) (harlequin darner)

In addition, the following fossil species are known:^[9]

• †Gomphaeschna carinthiaeSchädel & Lechner, 2017 (middle Miocene of Austria)^[10]
• †?Gomphaeschna danicaMadsen & Nel, 1997 (late Paleocene/early Eocene of Denmark)^[11]
• †Gomphaeschna infernaPritykina, 1977 (earliest Cretaceous of Buryatia, Russia)^[7]
• †Gomphaeschna miocenicaProkop & Nel, 2002 (early Miocene of the Czech Republic)
• †Gomphaeschna paleocenicaMadsen & Nel, 1997 (late Paleocene/early Eocene of Denmark)^[11]
• †Gomphaeschna schrankiiLewis, 1988 (mid-late Paleocene of North Dakota, US)
• †Gomphaeschna sibiricaBechly et al., 2001 (Barremian to Aptian of Zabaykalsky Krai, Russia and Mongolia)

References

1. "Gomphaeschna Report". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 2019-09-24.
2. "Gomphaeschna". GBIF. Retrieved 2019-09-24.
3. "Gomphaeschna genus Information". BugGuide.net. Retrieved 2019-09-24.
4. "Odonata Central". Retrieved 2019-07-02.
5. "World Odonata List". Slater Museum of Natural History, University of Puget Sound. 2018. Retrieved 2019-07-02.
6. Archibald, S. Bruce; Cannings, Robert A. (2019). "Fossil dragonflies (Odonata: Anisoptera) from the early Eocene Okanagan Highlands, western North America". The Canadian Entomologist. 151 (6): 783–816. doi:10.4039/tce.2019.61. ISSN 0008-347X.
7. Kohli, Manpreet Kaur; Ware, Jessica L.; Bechly, Günter (2016-03-18). "How to date a dragonfly: Fossil calibrations for odonates". Palaeontologia Electronica 19.1.1FC. doi:10.26879/576. Retrieved 2025-08-21.
8. Schädel, Mario; Lechner, Thomas S. (2017-03-13). "Two new dragonflies (Odonata: Anisoptera) from the Miocene of Carinthia (Austria)". Zootaxa. 4243 (1): 153–164. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4243.1.7. ISSN 1175-5334.
9. "PBDB Taxon". paleobiodb.org. Retrieved 2025-08-21.
10. Schädel, Mario; Lechner, Thomas S. (2017-03-13). "Two new dragonflies (Odonata: Anisoptera) from the Miocene of Carinthia (Austria)". Zootaxa. 4243 (1): 153–164. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4243.1.7. ISSN 1175-5334.
11. Madsen, Henrik O. R.; Nel, André (1997-09-30). "Two New Fossil Species of Gomphaeschna Selys, 1871 in the Paleocene/Eocene of Denmark (Odonata: Aeshnoidea)". Annales de la Société entomologique de France. Nouvelle Série. 33 (3): 285–293. doi:10.1080/21686351.1997.12277889. ISSN 0037-9271.

Further reading

• Silsby, Jill (2001). Dragonflies of the World. Smithsonian Institution Press. ISBN 978-1560989592.
• Steinmann, Henrik (1997). Wermuth, Heinz; Fischer, Maximilian (eds.). World Catalogue of Odonata, Volume II: Anisoptera. Das Tierreich. Vol. 111. Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 978-3-11-014934-0.
• Needham, James G.; Westfall Jr., Minter J. Jr.; May, Michael L. (2000). Dragonflies of North America. Scientific Publishers. ISBN 978-0-945417-94-1.
• Kalkman, V. J. (2013). Studies on phylogeny and biogeography of damselflies (Odonata) with emphasis on the Argiolestidae (PhD). Leiden University. hdl:1887/22953.

External links

• Media related to Gomphaeschna at Wikimedia Commons