'' Diplacodes bipunctata'' (''

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

: tiemiemi)'' is a species of

dragonfly A dragonfly is a flying insect belonging to the infraorder Anisoptera below the order Odonata. About 3,000 extant species of true dragonfly are known. Most are tropical, with fewer species in temperate regions. Loss of wetland habitat threate ...

in the family

Libellulidae The skimmers or perchers and their relatives form the Libellulidae, the largest dragonfly family in the world. It is sometimes considered to contain the Corduliidae as the subfamily Corduliinae and the Macromiidae as the subfamily Macromiinae. Ev ...

, known as the wandering percher or red percher dragonfly.

Description

''Diplacodes bipunctata'' is a small to medium-sized dragonfly with a wingspan of about 55 millimeters. The wings are colorless except for a yellowish spot at the base of the hindwing. The male has a bright orange or red abdomen with dark markings along the dorsal line and sides, and the female is yellowish with similar markings. There are two dark spots at the side of the

synthorax The thorax is the midsection ( tagma) of the hexapod body (insects and entognathans). It holds the head, legs, wings and abdomen. It is also called mesosoma or cephalothorax in other arthropods. It is formed by the prothorax, mesothorax and met ...

, one of which is the metastigma.

Range

''Diplacodes bipunctata'' is a widespread species occurring in New Zealand and in a number of islands in the south-Pacific. In New Zealand it is most common in Northland, but occasional specimens have been found as south as Fiordland. In Australia it is found throughout the continent except in

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

. It is found near a wide variety of freshwater pools, streams and swamps.

Biology

This species is an early colonizer of appropriate habitat types in

freshwater Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the term specifically excludes seawater and brackish water, it does include ...

and

brackish water Brackish water, sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring in a natural environment that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing seawater (salt water) and fresh water together, as in estua ...

Gallery

Diplacodes bipunctata imported from iNaturalist photo 1733216 on 3 July 2019.jpg, Female Female Wandering Percher bum up (15920092471).jpg, Female Wandering percher (immature male).jpg, Immature male Diplacodes bipunctata (14502599136).jpg, Male Wandering Percher. Teneral male. Diplacodes bipunctata. Libellulidae (15192128944).jpg, Immature male Male Wandering Percher (17063332425).jpg, Male with outspread wings Wandering percher tip of the tail (5481495167).jpg, Male tail Australian insects (Plate VIII) (7268226282).jpg, 6. ''Diplacodes bipunctata'' from ''Australian Insects'' 1907, by W.W. Froggatt Diplacodes bipunctata 3406.jpg, Adult female from above Diplacodes bipunctata female wings (34248708183).jpg, Female wings Diplacodes bipunctata male wings (34248710823).jpg, Male wings

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2567869 Libellulidae Odonata of New Zealand Odonata of Oceania Odonata of Australia Insects of Indonesia Taxa named by Friedrich Moritz Brauer Insects described in 1865