Perilestidae Explained

The Perilestidae are a family of damselflies commonly known as shortwings and twigtails.^[1] It is a small family of around 19 species.^[2] All extant species are native to the Neotropical realm. In the past Nubiolestes of Africa was included in this family,^[2] but this is doubted. Palaeoperilestes electronicus is an extinct species described from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber.^[3]

These damselflies are short-winged and have very long, slender, color-banded abdomens.^[1] They live in dense forest habitat and rest with their abdomens hanging vertically.^[4]

Genera

The family Perilestidae include the following genera:^[5]

• Perilestes
• Perissolestes
• †Palaeoperilestes Zheng et al. 2016

Notes and References

1. Haber, W. and Wagner, D. Perilestidae: Shortwings. Dragonflies and Damselflies of Ecuador.
2. Neiss, U. G. and Neusa, H. (2010). The larva of Perilestes attenuatus Selys, 1886 (Odonata: Perilestidae) from Amazonas, Brazil. Zootaxa 2614 53-58.
3. Zheng. Daran. Wang. Bo. Jarzembowski. Edmund A.. Chang. Su-Chin. Nel. André. 2016-10-01. The first fossil Perilestidae (Odonata: Zygoptera) from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber. Cretaceous Research. 65. 199–205. 10.1016/j.cretres.2016.05.002. 2016CrRes..65..199Z . 10722/231813. free.
4. Machado, A. (2015). Perilestes eustaquioi sp. nov. and new distributional records of Perilestidae (Odonata) in Brazil. Zoologia (Curitiba), 32(5), 428-430.
5. Web site: World Odonata List. Martin. Dennis. Slater Museum of Natural History. University of Puget Sound. Schorr. Paulson. 4 April 2017.