they probably are in Suriname can be seen at the bottom.
Aeshnids of Suriname
In the collection of Naturalis 1600 Aeshnids are preserved of
30 species. The list with how common
they probably are in Suriname can be seen at the bottom.
About the dragonfly Gynacantha membranalis
| The species Gynacantha membranalis is one of the
larger dragonfly species of Suriname which flies mainly in the dusk. It
can be recognized by its large size and dark brown patches on the
wingbase. The larvae are known to live (among other localities) in water filled tree holes in the tropical rainforest. These waterholes must at least contain 1 liter of water. Records of the species in Suriname are known from the tropical rainforest in the interior and the savannah area. In the coastal region it has never been seen. The Brownsberg might be a place were you can encounter it. photo: KD Dijkstra |
|
Gynacantha membranalis map of records in Suriname
| In the Naturalis museum in Leyden (The Netherlands) a very large collection of dragonflies collected in Suriname is present. At this moment Johan van 't Bosch and Marcel Wasscher are working on a database. The purpose will be to make distribution maps and flight diagrams. Gynacantha membranalis is the first species of which sketches of both are ready. |
Distribution map of Gynacantha membranalis in Suriname
Flight diagram of the records of Gynacantha membranalis in Suriname
| In the Naturalis museum of Gynacantha membranalis 65 collected
dragonflies are present. The species must be regarded as 'not rare' in
Suriname. The
habitat of the species is not exclusively waterholes: on 4
January 1957 Jean Belle saw on a rainy day at 17.00 a female ovipositing
20 centimeter above the water in the mud of a ditch at Zanderij, Dauwdrupkamp.
KD Dijkstra says it is too a species of shaded rainpools on roads, which can be
rather permanent in Suriname.
The juveniles have been reared from larvae. While the temperature will not be too different at rearing the larvae and in the fieldtemperature, these data can be regarded as moments of emergence in the field. The species seems to fly all year: the long rainy season (form April to August) and the short rainy season (December - January) seems not influence the numbers in a specific way. The species is much more rare as Gynacantha nervosa which with 156 dragonflies in the collection is the most common species of the genus in Suriname. |
About Gynacantha fransesca
| The species Gynacantha fransesca is a rare species which has
long had its own genus 'Subaeschna'. A few years ago, the species
had been put in the genus Gynacantha (Paulson and von
Ellenrieder, 2005). It has been described by Rene Martin in 1909
from Suriname. Outside Suriname it has only been recorded in French
Guiana.
In the Naturalis museum only 14 dragonflies of this are species are present. But, not like the previous species, records are known form the coastal area: from Paramaribo (Combe quarter) and in the savannah area at Moengo. It has been mainly collected in August (7 records) all other records are from June till Septmebr: the end of the long rainy season and the start of the long dry season. Literature |
Distribution map of Gynacantha fransesca in Suriname
Table of number of adult Aeshnid specimens of Suriname present in the Naturalis collection.
| Code |
# |
Dutch | English | ||
| TRIASEPT | 223 | zeer algemeen | very common | ||
| GYNANERV | 156 | algemeen | common | ||
| STAURETI | 109 | algemeen | common | ||
| GYNAAURI | 108 | algemeen | common | ||
| CORYVIRI | 94 | algemeen | common | ||
| TRIADITZ | 87 | algemeen | common | ||
| GYNAMEXI | 73 | vrij algemeen | not common | ||
| GYNALATI | 69 | vrij algemeen | not common | ||
| GYNAMEMB | 65 | vrij algemeen | not common | ||
| NEURHARP | 45 | vrij zeldzaam | not rare | ||
| NEURCOST | 40 | vrij zeldzaam | not rare | ||
| GYNLITO | 39 | vrij zeldzaam | not rare | ||
| ANAXAMAZ | 34 | vrij zeldzaam | not rare | ||
| CORYADNE | 29 | vrij zeldzaam | not rare | ||
| GYNAKLAG | 25 | vrij zeldzaam | not rare | ||
| TRIACARI | 24 | vrij zeldzaam | not rare | ||
| GYNAGRAC | 21 | vrij zeldzaam | not rare | ||
| GYNATENU | 21 | vrij zeldzaam | not rare | ||
| ANAXCONC | 17 | vrij zeldzaam | not rare | ||
| TRIASATY | 15 | zeldzaam | rare | ||
| GYNAFRAN | 14 | zeldzaam | rare | ||
| CORYPERR | 10 | zeldzaam | rare | ||
| TRIADENT | 10 | zeldzaam | rare | ||
| GYNAINTE | 5 | zeldzaam | rare | ||
| STAUWAYA | 3 | zeer zeldzaam | very rare | ||
| NEURCALV | 1 | zeer zeldzaam | very rare | ||
| NEURCLAV | 1 | zeer zeldzaam | very rare | ||
| STAUAUCA | 1 | zeer zeldzaam | very rare | ||
| GYNABIFI | *0 | zeer zeldzaam | very rare | ||
| GYNALITO | 0 | zeer zeldzaam | very rare |
In collection the specimen are at the moment not present, but
the species is certainly an
Suriname species.