''Microstigma rotundatum'', the helicopter damselfly, is a species of
damselfly
Damselflies are flying insects of the suborder Zygoptera in the order Odonata. They are similar to dragonflies (which constitute the other odonatan suborder, Epiprocta) but are usually smaller and have slimmer bodies. Most species fold the win ...
belonging to the family
Coenagrionidae
Coenagrionidae is a family of damselflies, also known as pond damselflies, in the order Odonata and the suborder Zygoptera. The Zygoptera are the damselflies, which although less known than the dragonflies, are no less common. More than 1,300 spec ...
.
Description
These damselflies have a long, thin body and large wings with a dense venation. The apex of the forewings has large yellow flecks and the pseudostigma shows many cells.
[Charles W. Heckma]
Encyclopedia of South American Aquatic Insects: Odonata - Zygoptera
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Biology
These damselflies mainly prey on web-building spider
Spiders (order (biology), order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight limbs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude spider silk, silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and ran ...
s. Larvae develop in water-filled crevices of fallen trees and in phytotelmata, the bodies of water held by some plants (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, ...
).[Diomedes Quintero, Annette Aiellobr>Insects of Panama and Mesoamerica]
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Distribution and habitat
This species is present in South America (Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Bolivia, Amazonas).[ It lives in tropical primary lowland forests.
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Bibliography
* de Selys Longchamps, E. (1860) Synopsis des Agrionines. Première légion: Pseudostigma., Bulletin Academie royale Belgique Serie 2 10 (6): 9-27.
* Odonata: Catalogue of the Odonata of the World. Tol J. van.
References
Coenagrionidae
Odonata of South America
Arthropods of Colombia
Insects described in 1860
Taxa named by Edmond de Sélys Longchamps
{{Coenagrionoidea-stub