The Odonata or dragonflies of South Africa

F. (Friedrich) Ris

Sujets

• Odonata
• South Africa

Informations

• Publié par: les_archives_du_savoir
• Nombre de lectures: 23
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 11 Mo

Extrait

? ^ J ? PRINTED FOE THE TRUSTEES OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN MUSEUM BY ADLA.ro and son AND WEST NEWMAN, LTD., BARTHOLOMEW CLOSE, LONDON. 5.—T/te Odonata or Brayonflies South Africa.— F. Ris.of By (With Plates V-XII aud 77 text-figures). The origin paper request Dr. Peringueyof the present is a by L. to the author to write a paper which wouhl help the resident entomo- logist to get a reliable knowledge of the South African dragonflies. "In 1908 the writer had published in Schultze's Forsehungsreise ini '"westlicheu und zentralen Siidafrika (' Denkschrift mediz.-naturw. Gres. Jena,' xiii, 303-346, 1908) an annotated catalogue of the faunapp. opinion ofherein discussed, and this catalogue, in the Dr. Peringuey, would have to be modified for the purpose above mentioned. The collection of the Schultze expedition being a small one, and other material available at the time very limited, the paper of 1908 was a compilation extent also its character as a catalogueto a large ; made its value doubtful for the student who had no access to the libraries aud collections of European cities. The need of the local collector descriptive and fully illustrated paper." />

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ANNALS
SOUTH AFRICAN MUSEUM
VOLUME XVIII.
—PART III, cuntalning :
•j. The Odonata or SoiUh Africa. Jl\ I'. I!Dragonflies of
(With Plates V-XII, ami 77 Text-figures.)
ISSUED SEPTEMBER lOth, 19^1. PRICEJiOfT .>? ^ J ?
PRINTED FOE THE
TRUSTEES OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN MUSEUM
BY ADLA.ro and son AND WEST NEWMAN, LTD.,
BARTHOLOMEW CLOSE, LONDON.5.—T/te Odonata or Brayonflies South Africa.— F. Ris.of By
(With Plates V-XII aud 77 text-figures).
The origin paper request Dr. Peringueyof the present is a by L. to
the author to write a paper which wouhl help the resident entomo-
logist to get a reliable knowledge of the South African dragonflies.
"In 1908 the writer had published in Schultze's Forsehungsreise ini
'"westlicheu und zentralen Siidafrika (' Denkschrift mediz.-naturw.
Gres. Jena,' xiii, 303-346, 1908) an annotated catalogue of the faunapp.
opinion ofherein discussed, and this catalogue, in the Dr. Peringuey,
would have to be modified for the purpose above mentioned. The
collection of the Schultze expedition being a small one, and other
material available at the time very limited, the paper of 1908 was a
compilation extent also its character as a catalogueto a large ; made
its value doubtful for the student who had no access to the libraries
aud collections of European cities. The need of the local collector
descriptive and fully illustrated paper. But toand student was a
attain this object an extensive collection was indispensable, and Dr.
Peringuey kindly agreed to provide specimens for the purpose; the
considerable ofresults of his initiative reached me in a number
consignments, and were in the long run amply sufficient to serve as a
authorbasis for the pi-esent work. Moreover, the had at his disposal
interesting collection of South African dragonflies made by Missan
Margaret Fountaine, of Bath, loaned through the kindness of her
friend, Mr. K. J. Morton, of Edinburgh, and an extensive lot of very
British Museum, loanedinteresting specimens from the through the
offices of Messrs. Meade-Waldo aud Herbert Campion. Atgood G.
a somewhat later date Mr. E. B. Williamson, of Bluffton, Indiana,
U.S.A.,forwarded a large collection, consisting of various lots sent him
Leigh, of Durban, Natal, aud by A. K. Marshall,by Mr. G. F. Mr. G.
when this gentleman was a resident of Salisbury, Mashonaland.
Other specimens from the Marshall collections were also included in
lots as well as in material sent for study by thethe British Museum
Swedish Imperial Museum at Stockholm. The Congo Museum at
16Annah the Soiilli African Museum.246 of
important lot of specimens from Katanga,Tervueren seut a very
haswhich lot, though not strictly belonging to the fauna in question,
been repeatedly quoted.
own collection South African species are chieflyIn the wiiter's
forwardedrepresented by material from the Delagoa Bay region, kindly
the Suisse Romaude Mission. Withby the Eev. Henri A. Junod, of
other lots of minor importance obtained from dealers, all these con-
undertributions made a collection sufficient to characterise the fauna
paper of 1908, thediscussion. Differing in this respect from the
present one is entirely original supplementary notes have been
;
are maderestricted to an ap]ieudix, and all descriptions and figures
various collections mentioned.from actual specimens in the
But even now the woi-k remains fragmentary. Nothing can be said
mannerabout the natural surroundings of the various species, their
insect life ofof life and development, their place and value in the
their surroundings. is the atithor's ambition that these lines mayIt
haveawake sufficiently the interest of some resident entomologist to
Althoughthese lacunae eventually filled by observation and record.
at hand from the counti-yno nymphs or larvae of dragonflies are
under discussion, except that of Chlorolestes congj^cua, see 445, itp.
thewas found desirable to give an idea of what these nymphs are ;
may serveexamples were taken from the writer's own couutr\-, and they
taken from groups represented intheir purpo.se inasmuch as they are
South Africa either by identically the same or by very closely allied
genera.
Order Odouata is attempted, and it isNo general history of the
supposed that the more important facts of the external and internal
anatomy of insects are known to the student. Only such particular
andstructures are illustrated as ai'e most characteristic of the Order
classification, namely the head, thoracic segments,important in its
venation of wings and external genital organs of both sexes.*
andThus the essential part of this paper is systematic, descriptive
fauuistic. The faunal limits have been drawn somewhat artificially
and also purposely they embrace the States of the South African
;
Union, but materials from the contiguous Portuguese Colony and
in thefrom Rhodesia are also included as far as they were found
collections under study.
* Since the present paper was written, most fortunately a model text-book
given to the student of Odonata, where every aspect of the organisa-has been
tion, physiology, ecology, etc., of this order is discussed and illustrated by a
number of * Dragonflies,' by R. T.very large original figures : The Biology of
Tillyard, Cambridge, 1917 (Cambridge Zoological Series).