Epitheca
Genus of dragonflies
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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]
| Epitheca | |
|---|---|
| |
| Common baskettail | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Odonata |
| Infraorder: | Anisoptera |
| Family: | Corduliidae |
| Subfamily: | Corduliinae |
| Genus: | Epitheca Burmeister, 1839 |
| Type species | |
| Libellula bimaculata Charpentier, 1825 | |
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
The genus contains the following species:[3]
| Image | Scientific name | Common name | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Epitheca bimaculata (Charpentier, 1825) | Eurasian baskettail | Serbia and Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia, Ukraine |
 | Epitheca canis (McLachlan, 1886) | beaverpond baskettail | Canada and northern United States. |
_(cropped).jpg) | Epitheca costalis (Selys, 1871) | slender baskettail or stripe-winged baskettail | eastern and southern United States |
 | Epitheca cynosura (Say, 1840) | common baskettail | eastern and southern United States |
| Epitheca marginata (Selys, 1883) | China, Korea, Japan | ||
 | Epitheca petechialis (Muttkowski, 1911) | dot-winged baskettail | South central United States |
 | Epitheca princeps Hagen, 1861 | prince baskettail | midwestern and eastern United States. |
 | Epitheca semiaquea (Burmeister, 1839) | mantled baskettail | eastern United States. |
 | Epitheca sepia (Gloyd, 1933) | sepia baskettail | North America |
 | Epitheca spinigera (Selys, 1871) | spiny baskettail | northern United States and southern Canada |
| Epitheca spinosa (Hagen in Selys, 1878) | robust baskettail | eastern United States. | |
 | Epitheca stella (Williamson in Muttkowski, 1911) | Florida baskettail | Florida |
