Gynacantha
Encyclopedia
Gynacantha is a genus
of dragonflies
in the family
Aeshnidae
. The females have two prominent spines under the last abdominal segment. This gives the genus name (from Greek
female and thorn) and the common name Two-spined Darners. They are also commonly known as Duskhawkers.
The genus contains the following species:
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
Dragonfly
A dragonfly is a winged insect belonging to the order Odonata, the suborder Epiprocta or, in the strict sense, the infraorder Anisoptera . It is characterized by large multifaceted eyes, two pairs of strong transparent wings, and an elongated body...
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...
Aeshnidae
Aeshnidae
The hawkers include the largest dragonflies found in North America and Europe, and are among the largest of the dragonflies on the planet...
. The females have two prominent spines under the last abdominal segment. This gives the genus name (from Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
female and thorn) and the common name Two-spined Darners. They are also commonly known as Duskhawkers.
The genus contains the following species: