A review of present knowledge of larvae of the Calopterygoidea (Zygoptera) of the Oriental realm, including keys to families and known genera

Abstract

Literature on larvae of Calopterygoidea occurring in the Oriental Realm is comprehensively reviewed and assessed with a view to enabling workers in the region to identify larvae to genus level, and to navigate and interpret existing literature, which is scattered and uneven in quality. A family key and, where necessary and possible, generic keys for each family are provided, with the most significant gaps in our knowledge identified. Larvae of all 11 families except Priscagrionidae (2 genera) are known but larvae of many genera remain unknown and a few known genera cannot be determined with confidence by morphological characters. In total, larvae of 28 of 50 genera occurring in the region are known but apart from monotypic or ditypic families these are variably known: ratios of ‘genera with larva known’ to ‘total known genera’ are Calopterygidae (11/12), with confident generic determination of most specimens; Euphaeidae (6/8) with fair confidence of determination; Chlorocyphidae (6/16) with genera usually not clearly identifiable, hence no generic level key is provided for this family, although known intergeneric and interspecific variation is discussed.