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Urothemis

Urothemis is a genus of dragonfly in the family Libellulidae. Species of Urothemis can be medium-sized dragonflies which occur from Africa, across Asia to Indonesia and Australia.

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Jul 22, 2026
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Urothemis
Urothemis signata male
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Clade: Pancrustacea
Class: Insecta
Order: Odonata
Infraorder: Anisoptera
Family: Libellulidae
Genus: Urothemis
Brauer, 18681
Type species
Urothemis bisignata
Urothemis signata, female source ↗

Urothemis is a genus of dragonfly in the family Libellulidae.2 Species of Urothemis can be medium-sized dragonflies which occur from Africa, across Asia to Indonesia and Australia.3

Etymology

The genus name Urothemis is derived from the Greek οὐρά (oura, "tail") and the common dragonfly suffix -themis. The name refers to the long vulvar scale below the female abdomen.14

Species

The genus Urothemis includes the following species:5

Male Female Scientific name Common name Distribution
Urothemis abbotti Laidlaw, 1927 Malaysia
Urothemis aliena Selys, 1878 Red Baron3 northern and eastern Australia and New Guinea.
Urothemis assignata (Selys, 1872) Red Basker6 Angola, Benin, Botswana, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Somalia, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe
Urothemis bisignata Brauer, 1868 Indonesia
Urothemis edwardsii (Selys, 1849) Blue Basker7 Algeria; Angola; Benin; Botswana; Burkina Faso; Côte d'Ivoire; Cameroon; Chad; Congo-Brazzaville; Democratic Republic of the Congo; Ethiopia; Gabon; Gambia; Ghana; Guinee-Bissau; Kenya; Liberia; Malawi; Mali; Mauritania; Mozambique; Namibia; Niger; Nigeria; Republic of South Africa; Rwanda; Senegal; Sierra Leone; Somalia; South Sudan; Sudan; Tanzania; Uganda; Zambia; Zimbabwe
Urothemis luciana Balinsky, 1961 St Lucia Basker8 Mozambique; Republic of South Africa
Urothemis signata (Rambur, 1842) greater crimson glider - India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, China and Indochina, Australia and New Guinea
Urothemis thomasi Longfield, 1932 Oman, United Arab Emirates.
References

References

  1. Brauer, F. (1868). "Neue und wenig bekannte vom Herrn Doct. Semper gesammelte Odonaten". Verhandlungen der Zoologisch-Botanischen Gesellschaft in Wien (in German). 18: 167–188 [175] – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
  2. "Genus Urothemis Brauer, 1868". Australian Faunal Directory. Australian Biological Resources Study. 2012. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
  3. Günther Theischinger; John Hawking (2006). The Complete Field Guide to Dragonflies of Australia. CSIRO Publishing. ISBN 0-643-09073-8.
  4. Endersby, Ian; Fliedner, Heinrich (2015). The Naming of Australia's Dragonflies. Eltham, Victoria, Australia: Busybird Publishing. ISBN 9781925260625.
  5. Paulson, D.; Schorr, M.; Abbott, J.; Bota-Sierra, C.; Deliry, C.; Dijkstra, K.-D.; Lozano, F. "World Odonata List". OdonataCentral. University of Alabama.
  6. Clausnitzer, V.; Suhling, F.; Dijkstra, K.-D.B. (2016). "Urothemis assignata". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016 e.T60072A86822554. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T60072A86822554.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  7. Boudot, J.-P.; Clausnitzer, V.; Dijkstra, K.-D.B.; Suhling, F.; Samraoui, B.; Schneider, W. (2016). "Urothemis edwardsii". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016 e.T60073A83876779. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T60073A83876779.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  8. Suhling, F. & Samways, M.J. (2010). "Urothemis luciana". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2010 e.T22816A9389698. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2010-3.RLTS.T22816A9389698.en. Retrieved 24 December 2017.