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Epitheca

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Epitheca
Common baskettail
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Clade: Pancrustacea
Class: Insecta
Order: Odonata
Infraorder: Anisoptera
Superfamily: Libelluloidea
Family: Corduliidae
Subfamily: Corduliinae
Genus: Epitheca
Burmeister, 1839
Type species
Libellula bimaculata

Epitheca is a genus of dragonflies in the family Corduliidae. They are commonly known as baskettails. Baskettails' distinction is the specially adapted, upturned abdomen tip of the females which allows them to carry their egg masses in a small, orange-tinted globule.[1]

Some authorities spin off the North American baskettails into two new genera, Epicordulia and Tetragoneuria, but this has not gained widespread acceptance and most references place them under this genus.[2]

Species

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The genus contains the following species:[3]

ImageScientific nameCommon nameDistribution
Epitheca bimaculata (Charpentier, 1825)Eurasian baskettailSerbia and Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia, Ukraine
Epitheca canis (McLachlan, 1886)beaverpond baskettailCanada and northern United States.
Epitheca costalis (Selys, 1871)slender baskettail or stripe-winged baskettaileastern and southern United States
Epitheca cynosura (Say, 1840)common baskettaileastern and southern United States
Epitheca marginata (Selys, 1883)China, Korea, Japan
Epitheca petechialis (Muttkowski, 1911)dot-winged baskettailSouth central United States
Epitheca princeps Hagen, 1861prince baskettailmidwestern and eastern United States.
Epitheca semiaquea (Burmeister, 1839)mantled baskettaileastern United States.
Epitheca sepia (Gloyd, 1933)sepia baskettailNorth America
Epitheca spinigera (Selys, 1871)spiny baskettailnorthern United States and southern Canada
Epitheca spinosa (Hagen in Selys, 1878)robust baskettaileastern United States.
Epitheca stella (Williamson in Muttkowski, 1911)Florida baskettailFlorida

Notes

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  1. "Baskettails".
  2. Garrison, Rosser W.; von Ellenrieder, Natalia; Louton, Jerry A. (2006). Dragonfly Genera of the New World. The Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 157. ISBN 0-8018-8446-2.
  3. Martin Schorr; Martin Lindeboom; Dennis Paulson. "World Odonata List". University of Puget Sound. Retrieved 11 August 2010.

References

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