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Synlestidae is a family of damselflies commonly known as sylphs or malachites.[2][3] The family includes nine living genera distributed across sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, Australia and the Caribbean.[4][5] Members are typically large, slender damselflies with metallic green, bronze or black coloration and pale markings, and many species rest with their wings partly spread.[5][6]

Description

Most synlestids inhabit streams and rivers, particularly in forested habitats.[6][2] The larvae are aquatic and possess short, vertically held caudal gills.[6]

Taxonomic history

Tillyard established Synlestinae in 1917 for the Australian genus Synlestes.[1] Fraser later recognised two subfamilies within the group, Chlorolestinae and Synlestinae.[7] Molecular and morphological studies in the twenty-first century have refined the limits of the family, including the transfer of the African genus Nubiolestes from Perilestidae to Synlestidae by Dijkstra and colleagues (2013).[8]

The family is currently placed within the superfamily Lestoidea.[8][9]

Genera

The following genera are currently placed in Synlestidae:

Fossil record

Synlestidae has a modest fossil record extending from the Cretaceous to the Eocene, indicating a wider historical distribution than that of its living representatives.[10][11]

Fossil genera

The following fossil genera are currently placed in Synlestidae:[10]

Etymology

The family name Synlestidae is derived from the type genus Synlestes, with the standard zoological suffix -idae used for animal families.

The genus name Synlestes is derived from the Greek σύν (syn, “together”), combined with Lestes, a genus name derived from the Greek λῃστής (lēstēs, “robber”), indicating resemblance to that genus.[12]

References

  1. ^ a b Tillyard, R.J. (1917). The biology of dragonflies (Odonata or Paraneuroptera). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 396 [277]. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.35170.
  2. ^ a b Synlestidae. Identification & Ecology of Australian Freshwater Invertebrates. Murray-Darling Basin Authority.
  3. ^ “Family SYNLESTIDAE”. Australian Faunal Directory. Australian Biological Resources Study. 2014. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
  4. ^ “Synlestidae”. GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset. GBIF Secretariat. 2023. doi:10.15468/39omei. Retrieved 1 June 2026.
  5. ^ a b Silsby, Jill (2001). Dragonflies of the World. CSIRO Publishing. p. 87. ISBN 0643065121.
  6. ^ a b c Theischinger, Günther; Hawking, John (2021). The Complete Field Guide to Dragonflies of Australia (2nd ed.). Melbourne, Australia: CSIRO Publishing. ISBN 9781486313747.
  7. ^ Fraser, F.C. (1957). A reclassification of the order Odonata. Handbook / Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales; 12. Sydney: Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales. pp. 133 [60].
  8. ^ a b Dijkstra, K.D.B.; et al. (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.
  9. ^ Bybee, S. M.; Kalkman, V. J.; Erickson, R. J.; Frandsen, P. B.; Breinholt, J. W.; Suvorov, A.; Ware, J. L. (2021). “Phylogeny and classification of Odonata using targeted genomics”. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 160 107115: 1–15. Bibcode:2021MolPE.16007115B. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2021.107115. hdl:11093/2768. PMID 33609713.
  10. ^ a b “Paleobiology Database: Synlestidae“. Paleobiology Database. Retrieved 1 June 2026.
  11. ^ Vasilenko, D. V. (2005). New damselflies (Odonata: Synlestidae, Hemiphlebiidae) from the Mesozoic Transbaikalian locality of Chernovskie Kopi. Paleontologicheskii Zhurnal 39(3), 280-83.
  12. ^ Endersby, Ian; Fliedner, Heinrich (2015). The Naming of Australia’s Dragonflies. Eltham, Victoria, Australia: Busybird Publishing. ISBN 9781925260625.