Aeshna is the scientific name of a genus of dragonflies from the family Aeshnidae. They are also known as hawker dragonflies, or, in North America, as mosaic darners.

Description

Aeshna speciosa fossil

These are relatively large dragonflies. Their thorax and abdomen have a brown 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".^[1] 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 (such as Rhionaeschna) retain the 'sch' spelling, as this is how they were first cited.

Species

The genus Aeshna includes the following species:^[2]

• Aeshna affinis Van der Linden, 1820 – Southern Migrant Hawker,^[3] Blue-eyed Hawker^[4]
• Aeshna athalia Needham, 1930
• Aeshna baicalensis Belyshev, 1964
• Aeshna caerulea (Ström, 1783) – Azure Hawker^[3]
• Aeshna canadensis Walker, 1908 – Canada Darner^[5]
• Aeshna clepsydra Say, 1839 – Mottled Darner^[5]
• Aeshna constricta Say, 1839 – Lance-tipped Darner^[5]
• Aeshna crenata Hagen, 1856 – Siberian Hawker^[4]
• Aeshna cyanea (Müller, 1764) – Blue Hawker,^[4] Southern Hawker^[3]
• Aeshna ellioti Kirby, 1896 – Elliot's Hawker or Highland Hawker^[6]
• Aeshna eremita Scudder, 1866 – Lake Darner^[5]
• Aeshna flavifrons Lichtenstein, 1976
• Aeshna frontalis Navás, 1936
• Aeshna grandis (Linnaeus, 1758) – Brown Hawker^[3]
• Aeshna interrupta Walker, 1908 – Variable Darner^[5]
• Aeshna isoceles - Norfolk Hawker
• Aeshna juncea (Linnaeus, 1758) – Common Hawker,^[3] Sedge Darner,^[5] Moorland Hawker^[4]
• Aeshna lucia Needham, 1930
• Aeshna meruensis Sjöstedt, 1909
• Aeshna minuscula McLachlan, 1896 – Friendly Hawker^[7]
• Aeshna mixta Latreille, 1805 – Migrant Hawker^[3]
• Aeshna moori Pinhey, 1981
• Aeshna nigroflava Martin, 1908
• Aeshna osiliensis Mierzejewski, 1913
• Aeshna palmata Hagen, 1856 – Paddle-tailed Darner^[5]
• Aeshna persephone Donnelly, 1961 – Persephone's Darner^[5]
• Aeshna petalura Martin, 1909
• Aeshna rileyi Calvert, 1892
• Aeshna scotias Pinhey, 1952
• Aeshna septentrionalis Burmeister, 1839 – Azure Darner^[5]
• Aeshna serrata Hagen, 1856 – Baltic Hawker^[4]
• Aeshna sitchensis Hagen, 1861 – Zigzag Darner^[5]
• Aeshna subarctica Walker, 1908 – Bog Hawker,^[4] Subarctic Darner^[8]
• Aeshna subpupillata McLachlan, 1896 – Stream Hawker^[9]
• Aeshna tuberculifera Walker, 1908 – Black-tipped Darner^[5]
• Aeshna umbrosa Walker, 1908 – Shadow Darner^[5]
• Aeshna undulata Bartenev, 1930
• Aeshna verticalis Hagen, 1861 – Green-striped Darner^[5]
• Aeshna viridis Eversmann, 1836 – Green Hawker^[4]
• Aeshna walkeri Kennedy, 1917 – Walker's Darner^[5]
• Aeshna williamsoniana Calvert, 1905 – Williamson's Darner^[10]
• Aeshna wittei Fraser, 1955
• Aeshna yemenensis Waterston, 1985

References

• Corbet, P. S. 1999. Dragonflies: Behavior and Ecology of Odonata. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York, USA, 829pp.
• von Ellenrieder, N., 2003. A synopsis of the Neotropical species of 'Aeshna' Fabricius: the genus Rhionaeschna Förster (Odonata: Aeshnidae). - Tijdschrift voor Entomologie 146 (1): 67-207.

1. ^ "Dragonflies of the Family Aeshnidae in British Columbia". http://www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/Content_Files/Files/aeshnidae_of_BC.pdf. Retrieved 25 August 2009. 
2. ^ Martin Schorr, Martin Lindeboom, Dennis Paulson. "World Odonata List". University of Puget Sound. Archived from the original on 28 August 2010. http://www.pugetsound.edu/academics/academic-resources/slater-museum/biodiversity-resources/dragonflies/world-odonata-list/. Retrieved 11 August 2010. 
3. ^ ^{a b c d e f} "Checklist of UK Species". British Dragonfly Society. http://www.british-dragonflies.org.uk/content/uk-species. Retrieved 5 August 2010. 
4. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} "Checklist, English common names". DragonflyPix.com. http://www.dragonflypix.com/checklist.html. Retrieved 5 August 2010. 
5. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n} "North American Odonata". University of Puget Sound. 2009. Archived from the original on 11 July 2010. http://www.pugetsound.edu/academics/academic-resources/slater-museum/biodiversity-resources/dragonflies/north-american-odonata/. Retrieved 5 August 2010. 
6. ^ Clausnitzer, V. & Suhling, F. (2009). "Aeshna ellioti". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2010.3. International Union for Conservation of Nature. http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/59787/0. Retrieved 25 Aug 2010. 
7. ^ Suhling, F. (2008). "Aeshna minuscula". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2010.3. International Union for Conservation of Nature. http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/63193/0. Retrieved 25 Aug 2010. 
8. ^ "Subarctic Darner". Montana Field Guide. Archived from the original on 28 August 2010. http://fieldguide.mt.gov/detail_IIODO14170.aspx. Retrieved 13 September 2010. 
9. ^ Suhling, F. (2007). "Aeshna subpupillata". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2010.3. International Union for Conservation of Nature. http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/63194/0. Retrieved 25 Aug 2010. 
10. ^ von Ellenrieder, N. & Paulson, D. (2006). "Aeshna williamsoniana". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2010.3. International Union for Conservation of Nature. http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/564/0. Retrieved 25 Aug 2010.