A guide to the dragonflies and damselflies of South Africa, by Warwick Tarboton and Michele Tarboton

A guide to the dragonflies and damselflies of South Africa, by Warwick Tarboton and Michele Tarboton. Penguin Random House South Africa. Cape Town, South Africa 2015. ISBN 9781775841845 / ISBN 978-1-77584-184-5

A guide to the dragonflies and damselflies of South Africa, by Warwick Tarboton and Michele Tarboton. Penguin Random House South Africa. Cape Town, South Africa 2015. ISBN 9781775841845 / ISBN 978-1-77584-184-5

Presented in classic field-guide format, Warwick and Michele Tarboton's book, A guide to the dragonflies and damselflies of South Africa, offers images of each species, in this instance, scans made from living insects, opposite a detailed description, distribution map and photographs of specimens in their natural environment. An introduction covers the Odonata life cycle, biology and behaviour, and there are pointers on how to ID these fascinating insects.

Warwick Tarboton  

The term 'dragonflies' is commonly used to refer to the Order of insects known as the Odonata, which comprises two suborders - Anisoptera ('true' dragonflies) and Zygoptera (damselflies). Dragonflies and damselflies are readily distinguished from one another by differences in their build, their wing shape and their eye structure (see illustration right). Damselflies are slim-bodied, have similar fore- and hindwings that taper narrowly where they join the body, and their eyes are widely separated on their heads. When they settle (with the exception of malachites and spreadwings) they fold their wings against their abdomens. Dragonflies, by contrast, are more robustly built, and their fore- and hindwings differ in shape and are broader-based than those of damselflies; they also hold their wings out at right angles to the body when they settle and, with the exception of one family (the Gomphidae), their eyes join together on top of their heads. The scientific study of Odonata is known as odonatology - not to be confused with odontology (forensic dentistry). Not surprisingly, the two names share a common root, Odonata meaning a 'toothed jaw' in Greek and, in dragonflies, referring to the formidable mandibles of the larval form. The use of the word 'dragonfly' as a catch-all that sometimes includes damselflies is confusing, so hereafter we'll use the term 'Odonata' (or its English derivation 'odonate') when referring to both damselflies and dragonflies. Six damselfly families comprising 66 species and six dragonfly families comprising 98 species are known to occur in South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland. (The total increases to 227 when extended to the Zambezi River and to about 850 species for the whole African continent south of the Sahara.) The species are presented family by family, commencing with the more ancestral damselflies.

Dragonflies across the cultures

Most people know what dragonflies are colourful, lively inhabitants of rivers and marshes with superb flying abilities, sophisticated wing design, complex life histories and intriguing mating systems. Zulus have many names for them: umShovu, indisa, mangogobezane, imframachini, uzekamanzi, isiperede; Pedis know them as leponono; the Venda's name for them is tambramadi; in Sotho they are dipokapone, in Shangaan phaphatana, while the isiNdebele name is umavikinduku meaning 'the one who evades knobkieries'. In Germany, where dragonfly watching is a popular outdoor activity, dragonflies as a group are called Libellen, with Kleinlibellen used for damselflies and Grosslibellen used for dragonflies; their neighbours in France call them demoiselles or monsieurs (damselflies and dragonflies respectively) and their Italian neighbours refer to them as cavallocchio. In Afrikaans they are known as waterjuffers (water damsels) or, in the case of dragonflies, as naaldekokers (needle-quivers). In Japan, where dragonflies have a special place in the country's culture and folklore, there are even nature reserves created specifically to protect these entertaining little creatures.

Classification of Odonata

Like other insects, Odonata have a segmented body that comprises a head, a thorax and an abdomen, with three pairs of legs, two pairs of wings and a pair of antennae or 'feelers'. Odonata superficially resemble some of the other groups of flying insects, especially ant-lions (Order Neuroptera) and mayflies (Order Ephemeroptera), but one feature in particular sets them apart - they have very short (<2mm) antennae; compare the length of the antennae of the ant-lion alongside with those on the damselfly and dragonfly shown on the previous page. [...]

This is an excerpt from A Field guide to dragonflies and damselflies of South Africa, by Warwick Tarboton and Michele Tarboton.

Title: Field guide to dragonflies and damselflies of South Africa
Author: Warwick Tarboton; Michele Tarboton
Genre: Insect guide
Publisher: Penguin Random House South Africa
Cape Town, South Africa 2015
ISBN 9781775841845 / ISBN 978-1-77584-184-5
Softcover, 17 x 24 cm, 216 pages, 400 photographs

Tarboton, Warwick und Tarboton, Michele im Namibiana-Buchangebot

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