''Mecistogaster'' is a genus of large Neotropical

damselflies Damselflies are flying insects of the suborder Zygoptera in the order Odonata. They are similar to dragonflies, which constitute the other odonatan suborder, Anisoptera, but are smaller and have slimmer bodies. Most species fold the wings along ...

in the family

Pseudostigmatidae The Pseudostigmatidae are a family of tropical damselflies, known as helicopter damselflies, giant damselflies, or forest giants. The family includes the largest of all damselfly species. They specialize in preying on web-building spiders, and ...

, commonly known as helicopter damsels. There are eleven species distributed from

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. Members of this genus have very long abdomens which they use to deposit their eggs in the water-filled rosettes of

bromeliads The Bromeliaceae (the bromeliads) are a family of monocot flowering plants of about 80 genera and 3700 known species, native mainly to the tropical Americas, with several species found in the American subtropics and one in tropical west Africa, ...

growing on trees in the forest. Species include: *''

Mecistogaster amalia ''Mecistogaster amalia'' is a species of damselfly in the family Pseudostigmatidae known commonly as the Amalia helicopter. It is Endemism, endemic to Brazil, where it lives in Atlantic rainforest. References

Pseudostigmatidae Endemic fa ...

'' - Amalia Helicopter *'' Mecistogaster amazonica'' *'' Mecistogaster asticta'' *'' Mecistogaster buckleyi'' - Blue-tipped Helicopter *'' Mecistogaster jocaste'' *'' Mecistogaster linearis'' *'' Mecistogaster lucretia'' *'' Mecistogaster martinezi'' *'' Mecistogaster modesta'' *'' Mecistogaster ornata'' - Ornate Helicopter *'' Mecistogaster pronoti'' - Atlantic Helicopter

References

Pseudostigmatidae Zygoptera genera Taxa named by Jules Pierre Rambur Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Coenagrionoidea-stub