Euphaeidae

Euphaeidae, sometimes incorrectly named Epallagidae and commonly called gossamerwings, is a family of damselflies in the odonate superfamily Calopterygoidea. The family is small, consisting of around 78 species living species in nine genera occurring in the Palearctic, Australasia, and Asia. The family contains two subfamilies, Euphaeinae, encompassing all the living species and a single fossil genus, and the extinct Eodichromatinae, encompassing fossil genera from the Eocene to late Oligocene.^[3] Euphaeid species are large and mostly metallic-coloured, looking similar to species of damselflies in the family Calopterygidae.^[4]

Euphaeidae
Euphaea fraseri, male
Euphaea fraseri, female
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Odonata
Suborder:	Zygoptera
Superfamily:	Calopterygoidea
Family:	Euphaeidae Yakobson & Bianchi, 1905[1]
Subfamilies
Eodichromatinae Euphaeinae
Synonyms
Epallagidae Needham, 1903[2]

The larvae have seven pairs of supplementary gills along the abdomen in addition to the usual three sac-like gills at the tip of the abdomen. Adults have the fore- and hindwings of equal length, barely petiolate and a long pterostigma that is broader in the hindwing. Adults have close veins and numerous antenodals (15-38), and most breed in forest streams.^[5][6]

Subfamilies, tribes, and genera

• †Eodichromatinae
  • †Eodichromatini
    • †Ejerslevia Zessin, 2011 (Fur Formation, Ypresian, Denmark)
    • †Eodichroma Cockerell, 1923 (Wellborn Formation, Priabonian, Texas)
    • †Labandeiraia Petrulevičius et al., 2007 (Fur Formation & Green River Formation, Ypresian, Denmark & Colorado)
    • †Parazacallites Nel, 1988 (Aix-en-Provence Formation, Chattian, France)
    • †Republica Archibald & Cannings, 2021 (Klondike Mountain Formation, Ypresian, Washington)
    • †Solveigia wittecki Zessin, 2011 (Fur Formation, Ypresian, Denmark)
    • †Wolfgangeuphaea Ferwer & Nel, 2020 (Baltic Amber, Priabonian, Europe)
  • †Litheuphaeini
    • †Litheuphaea Fraser, 1955 (Goshen flora, Green River Formation & Baltic Amber, Ypresian - Repuelian?, Europe, Colorado, & Oregon)
  • incertae sedis
    • †Eodysphaea Bechly et al., 2020 (Green River Formation, Ypresian, Colorado)
• Euphaeinae
  • Anisopleura Selys, 1853
  • Bayadera Selys, 1853
  • Cryptophaea Hämäläinen, 2003
  • Dysphaea Selys, 1853
  • †Elektroeuphaea Nel et al., 2013 (Baltic Amber, Priabonian, Europe)
  • Epallage Charpentier, 1840
  • Euphaea Selys, 1840
  • Heterophaea Cowley, 1934
  • Schmidtiphaea Asahina, 1978
• Incertae sedis
  • †Epallagites Cockerell (Green River Formation, Ypresian, Colorado)

References

1. Jacobson, G. G.; Bianki, V. L. (1905). Orthoptera and Pseudoneuroptera of the Russian Empire and bordering countries [Прямокрылые и ложносетчатокрылые Российской империи и сопредельных стран] (in Russian). St. Petersburg: A.F. Devrien. pp. 952 [725]. ISBN 978-5-4460-2061-4.
2. Bechly, G. (1998). "New fossil damselflies from Baltic Amber, with description of a new species, a redescription of Litheuphaea carpenteri Fraser, and a discussion on the phylogeny of Epallagidae (Zygoptera: Caloptera)". International Journal of Odonatology. 1 (1): 33–63. Bibcode:1998IJOdo...1...33B. doi:10.1080/13887890.1998.9748092. ISSN 1388-7890.
3. Archibald, S. B.; Cannings, R. A. (2021). "A new genus and species of Euphaeidae (Odonata, Zygoptera) from the early Eocene Okanagan Highlands locality at Republic, Washington, U.S.A.". Zootaxa. 4966 (3): 392–400. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4966.3.11. PMID 34186607. S2CID 235557114.
4. Paulson, D.; Schorr, M.; Abbott, J.; Bota-Sierra, C.; Deliry, C.; Dijkstra, K.-D.; Lozano, F. (2024). "World Odonata List". OdonataCentral, University of Alabama.
5. Hämäläinen, M. (2003). "Cryptophaea, a new euphaeid genus and three new species of Caloptera damselflies from Thailand (Odonata: Euphaeidae, Calopterygidae)". Zool. Med. Leiden. 77 (25): 441–454.
6. Lok, A. F. S. L. and A. G. Orr (2009). "The biology of Euphaea impar Selys (Odonata: Euphaeidae) in Singapore" (PDF). Nature in Singapore. 2: 135–140.