American Rubyspot

American Rubyspot
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Odonata
Suborder: Zygoptera
Family: Calopterygidae
Genus: Hetaerina
Species: H. americana
Binomial name
Hetaerina americana
(Fabricius, 1798) [1]
Range of H. americana [2]

The American Rubyspot (Hetaerina americana) is a damselfly of the family Calopterygidae. Males have a lustrous red head and thorax. The abdomen of both genders is brilliant green.[3] The female may have either green or copper colored marks on the thorax.[4]

Etymology

The name highlights this damselfly's status as the most widespread of the North American rubyspots.[5] It is reported from every state of the USA except Washington and Idaho, and is also found in Mexico and southeast Canada.[2]

References

  1. ^ "Hetaerina americana". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. http://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=102050. 
  2. ^ a b "Distribution Viewer". OdonataCentral. http://www.odonatacentral.org/index.php/MapAction.windowed. Retrieved December 17, 2009. 
  3. ^ Abbott, John C. (2005). Dragonflies and Damselflies of Texas and the South-Central United States. Princeton University Press. p. 25. ISBN 0-691-11364-5. 
  4. ^ "Hetaerina americana". BugGuide.Net. http://bugguide.net/node/view/2593. Retrieved December 16, 2009. 
  5. ^ Paulson, Dennis R; Dunkle, Sidney W (14 April 2009). A Checklist of North American Odonata. p. 5.