Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 13, 2026

Aeshnoidea

Aeshnoidea is a superfamily of dragonflies comprising the families Aeshnidae and Austropetaliidae.

Last revised
Jun 13, 2026
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≈ 4 min
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885 w
Citations
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Wikipedia ↗
Aeshnoidea
Temporal range:
Southern hawker (Aeshna cyanea)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Clade: Pancrustacea
Class: Insecta
Order: Odonata
Infraorder: Anisoptera
Superfamily: Aeshnoidea
Leach, 18151
Families
Synonyms
  • Aeshnoptera Bechly, 1996

Aeshnoidea is a superfamily of dragonflies comprising the families Aeshnidae and Austropetaliidae.234

The superfamily also includes numerous extinct lineages known from Jurassic and Cretaceous fossils.5

Taxonomic history

The superfamily Aeshnoidea was established by Leach in 1815.1

Modern classifications recognise two extant families within the superfamily: Aeshnidae and Austropetaliidae.234

The fossil clade Aeshnoptera, proposed by Bechly in 1996, broadly corresponds to Aeshnoidea and several extinct stem groups.5

Phylogeny

Phylogenetic studies support Aeshnoidea as a monophyletic group comprising Aeshnidae and Austropetaliidae.6782

Within modern dragonflies, Aeshnoidea is generally recovered as the sister group to the remaining extant Anisoptera.62

Anisoptera

Aeshnoidea

Other dragonflies

Etymology

The superfamily name Aeshnoidea is derived from the type genus Aeshna and the zoological suffix -oidea, used for superfamilies.

The origin of the genus name Aeshna is uncertain, but it may derive from the Greek αἰσχύνω (aischynō, "to disfigure" or "to tarnish"), possibly through a transcription error.9

Extant families

Fossil families

The superfamily includes numerous extinct families known from Jurassic and Cretaceous deposits, including:

  • †Cymatophlebiidae Handlirsch, 190610
  • †Eumorbaeschnidae Bechly et al., 200111
  • †Liupanshaniidae Bechly et al., 200112
  • †Mesuropetalidae Bechly, 1996
  • †Paracymatophlebiidae Bechly et al., 2001
  • †Progobiaeshnidae Bechly, Nel, Martínez-Delclòs et al., 200113
  • †Rudiaeschnidae Bechly et al., 2001

Additional extinct families closely related to modern aeshnoids include:

  • †Burmaeshnidae Huang et al., 201714
  • †Enigmaeshnidae Nel et al., 200815
  • †Libanoaeshnidae Azar, Maksoud, Abi-Saad & Nel, 202416
  • †Primumaeshnidae Pouillon & Nel, 202017

Fossil record

The oldest known crown-group dragonflies are the paracymatophlebiid †Sinocymatophlebia and the indeterminate aeshnoid †Propecymatophlebia, known from the Middle Jurassic of China.185

See also

See also

References

References

  1. Leach, W.E. (1815). "Entomology". In Brewster, D. (ed.). The Edinburgh Encyclopedia. Vol. 9 (reprint 1830 ed.). Edinburgh: William Blackburn. pp. 57-172 [136].
  2. Dijkstra, Klaas-Douwe B.; Bechly, Günter; Bybee, Seth M.; Dow, Rory A.; Dumont, Henri J.; Fleck, Günther; Garrison, Rosser W.; Hämäläinen, Matti; Kalkman, Vincent J.; Karube, Haruki; May, Michael L.; Orr, Albert G.; Paulson, Dennis R.; Rehn, Andrew C.; Theischinger, Günther; Trueman, John W.H.; Van Tol, Jan; von Ellenrieder, Natalia; Ware, Jessica (2013). "The classification and diversity of dragonflies and damselflies (Odonata). In: Zhang, Z.-Q. (Ed.) Animal Biodiversity: An Outline of Higher-level Classification and Survey of Taxonomic Richness (Addenda 2013)". Zootaxa. 3703 (1): 36–45. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3703.1.9. hdl:10072/61365. ISSN 1175-5334.
  3. Carvalho, Alcimar do Lago; Pessacq, Pablo (2018), Hamada, Neusa; Thorp, James H.; Rogers, D. Christopher (eds.), "Chapter 14.1 - Superfamily Aeshnoidea", Thorp and Covich's Freshwater Invertebrates (Fourth Edition), Academic Press, pp. 367–376, doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-804223-6.00015-9, ISBN 978-0-12-804223-6, retrieved 2023-11-04{{citation}}: CS1 maint: work parameter with ISBN (link)
  4. Paulson, D.; Schorr, M.; Abbott, J.; Bota-Sierra, C.; Deliry, C.; Dijkstra, K.-D.; Lozano, F. "World Odonata List". OdonataCentral. University of Alabama.
  5. Kohli, Manpreet Kaur; Ware, Jessica L.; Bechly, Günter (2016-03-18). "How to date a dragonfly: Fossil calibrations for odonates". Palaeontologia Electronica 19.1.1FC. doi:10.26879/576. Retrieved 2025-08-21.
  6. Bybee, S.M.; Ogden, T.H.; Branham, M.A.; Whiting, M.F. (2008). "Molecules, morphology and fossils: a comprehensive approach to odonate phylogeny and the evolution of the odonate wing". Cladistics. 24 (4): 477–514. doi:10.1111/j.1096-0031.2007.00191.x. PMID 34879634.
  7. Carle, F.L.; Kjer, K.M.; May, M.L. (2008). "Evolution of Odonata, with special reference to Coenagrionoidea (Zygoptera)". Arthropod Systematics & Phylogeny. 66: 37–44. doi:10.3897/asp.66.e31679.
  8. Davis, R.B.; Nicholson, D.B.; Saunders, E.L.R.; Mayhew, P.J. (2011). "Fossil gaps inferred from phylogenies alter the apparent nature of diversification in dragonflies and their relatives". BMC Evolutionary Biology. 11 (1) 252: 252–261. Bibcode:2011BMCEE..11..252D. doi:10.1186/1471-2148-11-252. PMC 3179963. PMID 21917167.
  9. Endersby, Ian; Fliedner, Heinrich (2015). The Naming of Australia's Dragonflies. Eltham, Victoria, Australia: Busybird Publishing. ISBN 9781925260625.
  10. Zheng, Daran; Jarzembowski, Edmund A.; Chang, Su-Chin; Wang, Bo; Zhang, Haichun (2018-10-01). "New cymatophlebiid dragonflies from the Lower Cretaceous of China and England (Odonata: Anisoptera: Cymatophlebiinae, Valdaeshninae)". Cretaceous Research. 90: 311–317. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2018.05.003. ISSN 0195-6671.
  11. Bechly, Günter; Kin, Adrian (2012). "First record of the fossil dragonfly family Eumorbaeschnidae from the Upper Jurassic of Poland". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. doi:10.4202/app.2011.0194. ISSN 0567-7920.
  12. Azar, Dany; Maksoud, Sibelle; Huang, Diying; Nel, André (2019-01-01). "First Lebanese dragonflies (Insecta: Odonata, Aeshnoptera, Cavilabiata) from the Arabo-African mid-Cretaceous paleocontinent". Cretaceous Research. 93: 78–89. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2018.08.025. ISSN 0195-6671.
  13. Li, Yongjun; Nel, André; Ren, Dong; Pang, Hong (2012-07-01). "New gomphaeschnids and progobiaeshnids from the Yixian Formation in Liaoning Province (China) illustrate the tremendous Upper Mesozoic diversity of the aeshnopteran dragonflies". Geobios. 45 (4): 339–350. doi:10.1016/j.geobios.2011.11.016. ISSN 0016-6995.
  14. Huang, Diying; Cai, Chenyang; Nel, André; Bechly, Günter (2017-10-01). "A new dragonfly family from the mid Cretaceous Burmese amber (Odonata: Aeshnoptera: Burmaeshnidae)". Cretaceous Research. 78: 8–12. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2017.05.025. ISSN 0195-6671.
  15. Nel, Andre; Neraudeau, Didier; Perrichot, Vincent; Girard, Vincent; Gomez, Bernard (2008). "A New Dragonfly Family from the Upper Cretaceous of France". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 53 (1): 165–168. doi:10.4202/app.2008.0113. ISSN 0567-7920.
  16. Azar, Dany; Maksoud, Sibelle; Abi-Saad, Pierre; Nel, Andre (2024-08-22). "A new, to date endemic, family of dragonfly in the mid-Cretaceous fossil fish Konservat-Lagerstätte of Haqel, Lebanon (Odonata: Anisoptera)". Zootaxa. 5497 (1): 142–150. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.5497.1.9. ISSN 1175-5334.
  17. Pouillon, Jean-Marc; Nel, André (2020-12-01). "The oldest representative of the modern clade Aeshnodea from the Lower Cretaceous Crato Formation, Araripe Basin, NE Brazil (Odonata: Anisoptera)". Cretaceous Research. 116 104580. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2020.104580. ISSN 0195-6671.
  18. Huang, Di-ying; Nel, André; Cai, Chenyang (2017-09-01). "An enigmatic hawker dragonfly from the Middle Jurassic of China (Odonata, Aeshnoptera)". PalZ. 91 (3): 459–462. doi:10.1007/s12542-017-0364-6. ISSN 1867-6812.