''Lindenia tetraphylla'', or bladetail, is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

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 ...

from the family

Gomphidae The Gomphidae are a family of dragonflies commonly referred to as clubtails or club-tailed dragonflies. The family contains about 90 genera and 900 species found across North and South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. The name refers to the ...

found in

Central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

and

Southwest Asia Western Asia, West Asia, or Southwest Asia, is the westernmost subregion of the larger geographical region of Asia, as defined by some academics, UN bodies and other institutions. It is almost entirely a part of the Middle East, and includes Anat ...

, and parts of the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

. It is the only representative of the

monotypic genus In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

''Lindenia''.

Description

Adults are easily recognizable due to their impressive body size with 69–80 mm length, the

leaf A leaf ( : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, ste ...

-shaped flaps on the bottom side of the abdomen tip which are unique in European species, and

wing venation Insect wings are adult outgrowths of the insect exoskeleton that enable insects to flight, fly. They are found on the second and third Thorax (insect anatomy), thoracic segments (the mesothorax and metathorax), and the two pairs are often referre ...

. The flaps give the narrow and long abdomen club-shaped appearance. Basic color is pale yellow with dark brown or black markings of variable size. The

pterostigma The pterostigma (plural: pterostigmata) is a group of specialized cells in the outer insect wing, wings of insects, which are often thickened or coloured, and thus stand out from other cells. It is particularly noticeable in dragonfly, dragonfli ...

is also similarly colored. In south

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

and

Montenegro ) , image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Podgorica , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , official_languages = M ...

, it is possible to observe completely black individuals, which is probably a consequence of them developing in cold springs. The adults fly in the summer, from the end of May until August.

Habitat and distribution

left, A male and a female forming a copulatory "wheel" Bladetail breeds in larger lakes and larger, slowly flowing rivers. Adults tend to wander far from where they hatched, and may

colonize Colonization, or colonisation, constitutes large-scale population movements wherein migrants maintain strong links with their, or their ancestors', former country – by such links, gain advantage over other inhabitants of the territory. When ...

new bodies of water, such as abandoned gravel pits, as a

pioneer species Pioneer species are hardy species that are the first to colonize barren environments or previously biodiverse steady-state ecosystems that have been disrupted, such as by wildfire. Pioneer flora Some lichens grow on rocks without soil, so m ...

. They are however more commonly found above lakes with wide

reed bed A reedbed or reed bed is a natural habitat found in floodplains, waterlogged depressions and estuaries. Reedbeds are part of a succession from young reeds colonising open water or wet ground through a gradation of increasingly dry ground. As ...

s or floating patches of

aquatic plant Aquatic plants are plants that have adapted to living in aquatic environments (saltwater or freshwater). They are also referred to as hydrophytes or macrophytes to distinguish them from algae and other microphytes. A macrophyte is a plant that ...

s in which the females

oviposit The ovipositor is a tube-like organ used by some animals, especially insects, for the laying of eggs. In insects, an ovipositor consists of a maximum of three pairs of appendages. The details and morphology of the ovipositor vary, but typical ...

. The species has a broad

distribution range Species distribution —or species dispersion — is the manner in which a biological taxon is spatially arranged. The geographic limits of a particular taxon's distribution is its range, often represented as shaded areas on a map. Patterns of ...

in most parts of Central and Southwest Asia, and eastern Mediterranean. However, it is scattered throughout the range, and higher population densities are only a local occurrence. In the Mediterranean, it is restricted to coastal plains. The largest local population is probably found on the banks of

Lake Skadar Lake Skadar ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, Скадарско језеро, Skadarsko jezero, ; sq, Liqeni i Shkodrës, ) also called Lake Scutari, Lake Shkodër and Lake Shkodra lies on the border of Albania and Montenegro, and is the largest lake in Southern ...

on the border between

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

and Montenegro where a 2011 field census estimated one million individuals, but Lake Skadar is one of only two known sites in Montenegro where Bladetails are present. Individuals can occasionally wander as far north as SW

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

where one specimen was caught in the 1960s, but none have been observed since. The northernmost known breeding population in the Mediterranean lives on the Croatian island of

Cres Cres (; dlm, Crepsa, vec, Cherso, it, Cherso, la, Crepsa, Greek language, Greek: Χέρσος, ''Chersos'') is an Adriatic island in Croatia. It is one of the northern islands in the Kvarner Gulf and can be reached via ferry from Rijeka, ...

. Only individual sightings of males are known for

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

, and the species' current status there is unknown.

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q2210741 Gomphidae Dragonflies of Europe Odonata of Africa Odonata of Asia Insects described in 1825