Epitheca
Encyclopedia
Epitheca is a genus
of dragonflies
in the family
Corduliidae
. They are commonly known as Baskettails.
Some authorities spin off the North American baskettails into two new genera, Epicordulia and Tetragoneuria, but this has not gained widespread acceptance and most references place them under this genus.
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
of dragonflies
Odonata
Odonata is an order of insects, encompassing dragonflies and damselflies . The word dragonfly is also sometimes used to refer to all Odonata, but the back-formation odonate is a more correct English name for the group as a whole...
in the family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
Corduliidae
Corduliidae
The insect family Corduliidae contains the emerald dragonflies or green-eyed skimmers. These dragonflies are usually black or dark brown with areas of metallic green or yellow, and most of them have large, emerald-green eyes...
. They are commonly known as Baskettails.
Some authorities spin off the North American baskettails into two new genera, Epicordulia and Tetragoneuria, but this has not gained widespread acceptance and most references place them under this genus.
Species
The genus contains the following species:- Epitheca bimaculata – Eurasian Baskettail
- Epitheca canis – Beaverpond Baskettail
- Epitheca costalis – Slender Baskettail or Stripe-winged Baskettail
- Epitheca cynosura – Common Baskettail
- Epitheca marginata
- Epitheca petechialis – Dot-winged Baskettail
- Epitheca princeps – Prince Baskettail
- Epitheca semiaquea – Mantled Baskettail
- Epitheca sepia – Sepia Baskettail
- Epitheca spinigera – Spiny Baskettail
- Epitheca spinosa – Robust Baskettail
- Epitheca stella – Florida Baskettail