Aeshna
Aeshna, or the mosaic darners, is a genus of dragonflies from the family Aeshnidae. Species within this genus are generally known as "hawkers" or "darners".
Description
These are relatively large dragonflies. Their thoraces and abdomens are brown in color, with blue or yellow stripes or spots on the thorax, and yellow, blue or green spots on the abdomen.Natalia von Ellenrieder's 2003 paper demonstrated that the Holarctic and Neotropical species placed in this genus did not share a common ancestor, and proposed the latter be placed in the genus Rhionaeschna.
The name Aeshna was coined by the Danish entomologist Fabricius in the 18th century. The name may have resulted from a printer's error in spelling the Greek Aechma, "a spear". The spelling Aeschna has been intermittently used over a period of time, but is now abandoned for the original name Aeshna. However, derived genus names retain the 'sch' spelling, as this is how they were first cited.
Species
Many species formerly included in Aeshna have been split into other genera, including Afroaeschna, Andaeschna, Pinheyschna, Rhionaeschna, and Zosteraeschna.The genus Aeshna includes these species:
- Aeshna affinis – southern migrant hawker, blue-eyed hawker
- Aeshna annulata
- Aeshna athalia
- Aeshna caerulea – azure hawker
- Aeshna canadensis – Canada darner
- Aeshna clepsydra – mottled darner
- Aeshna constricta – lance-tipped darner
- Aeshna crenata – Siberian hawker
- Aeshna cyanea – blue hawker, southern hawker
- Aeshna eremita – lake darner
- Aeshna frontalis
- Aeshna grandis – brown hawker
- Aeshna interrupta – variable darner
- Aeshna isoceles – Norfolk Hawker
- Aeshna juncea – common hawker, sedge darner, moorland hawker
- Aeshna mixta – migrant hawker
- Aeshna palmata – paddle-tailed darner
- Aeshna persephone – Persephone's darner
- Aeshna petalura
- Aeshna septentrionalis – azure darner
- Aeshna serrata – Baltic hawker
- Aeshna shennong
- Aeshna sitchensis – zigzag darner
- Aeshna soneharai
- Aeshna subarctica – bog hawker, subarctic darner
- Aeshna tuberculifera – black-tipped darner
- Aeshna umbrosa – shadow darner
- Aeshna vercanica
- Aeshna verticalis – green-striped darner
- Aeshna viridis – green hawker
- Aeshna walkeri – Walker's darner
- Aeshna williamsoniana – Williamson's darner
Fossil species
Note that many fossil species in the genus were named at a time when many extant species now included in other genera were included in Aeshna. The list of valid fossil species is based on Nel et al., with species of uncertain validity noted:- †Aeshna andancensis – Late Miocene, France
- †Aeshna caseneuvensis Nel et al., 2022 – earliest Oligocene of France
- †Aeshna cerdanica – Late Miocene, Spain
- ?†Aeshna dido – Late Oligocene, Rott Formation, Germany
- †Aeshna forficatum Li et al., 2011 – Middle Miocene, Shanwang Formation, China
- †Aeshna ghiandonii – Late Miocene, Gessoso Formation, Italy
- ?†Aeshna heterofasciata – Early Oligocene, Salt Formation, Germany
- †Aeshna ignivora Zhang, 1989 – Middle Miocene, Shanwang Formation, China
- ?†Aeshna larvata – Late Eocene, Florissant Formation, Colorado
- †Aeshna messiniana – Late Miocene, Gessoso Formation, Italy
- †Aeshna multicellulata – Late Miocene, Gessoso Formation, Italy
- †Aeshna oligocenica – terminal Oligocene, Niveau du gypse d'Aix Formation, France
- †Aeshna ollivieri – Late Oligocene, Campagne-Calavon Formation, France
- ?†Aeshna paleocyanea – Early Oligocene, France
- †Aeshna shanwangensis Li et al., 2011 – Middle Miocene, Shanwang Formation, China
- †Aeshna solida – Late Eocene, Florissant Formation, Colorado
- †Aeshna stavropolensis Nel et al., 2005 – Middle Miocene of North Caucasus, Russia
- ?†Aeshna theobaldi – Early Pleistocene, France
- ?†Aeshna tyche – Late Miocene, Upper Freshwater-Molasse Formation, Germany
- †Aeshna voesendorfensis – Late Miocene, Austria
- †Aeshna zlatkokvaceki Prokop et al., 2016 – Early Miocene of the Czech Republic