Thaumatoneura
| Thaumatoneura inopinata | |
|---|---|
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Odonata |
| Family: | Thaumatoneuridae (disputed) |
| Subfamily: |
Thaumatoneurinae Tillyard & Fraser, 1938 |
| Genus: |
Thaumatoneura McLachlan, 1897 |
| Species: | T. inopinata |
| Binomial name | |
|
Thaumatoneura inopinata McLachlan, 1897 |
|
Thaumatoneura inopinata is a species of damselfly, sometimes called the cascade damselfly or giant waterfall damsel. It is unusual in flying among the falling water and spray from waterfalls in moist tropical or subtropical forests in Costa Rica.
Thaumatoneura inopinata is a highly distinctive species, making up a monotypic genus (Thaumatoneura) and subfamily (Thaumatoneurinae). It is sometimes placed in the flatwing damselfly family (Megapodagrionidae) of the superfamily Lestoidea, while others consider it a monotypic family Thaumatoneuridae of the Calopterygoidea.
The species was first described in 1897 by the English entomologist Robert McLachlan, but he did not know the origin of the specimen that he had bought as part of an insect collection. It later transpired that the damselfly was from the New World when another specimen was brought back from Panama. The American entomologist Philip Powell Calvert visited Costa Rica and researched the species. The adult insects were seen in the vicinity of waterfalls, and nymphs were found on vegetated wet rocks, but it was some time before it was certain that these were of the same species. The matter was settled when one nymph was observed transforming into an adult. As the haemolymph was being pumped into the wings to expand them, the wings were at first pale green with blackish veins, and with the greenish body, the insect looked like a trembling, green leaf, exactly resembling the foliage close by.
The giant waterfall damsel is found in Costa Rica and Panama. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montane forests and rivers where it is usually found in close vicinity to waterfalls.
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Wikipedia