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Issue: Vol. 5862 No. 3: 6 Aug. 2026
Type: Article
Published: 2026-08-06
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5862.3.7
Page range: 523-538
Abstract views: 182
PDF downloaded: 100

The final instar larva of the Sri Lankan endemic Platysticta apicalis Kirby (Odonata: Platystictidae, Platystictinae), including comparisons with known larvae of other platystictid subfamilies

Environmental Futures Research Institute; Griffith University; Nathan; Australia.
National Institute of Biology; Department of Organisms and Ecosystems Research; Ljubljana; Slovenia.
Odonata Zygoptera damselfly nymph naiad larval taxonomy Sri Lanka tropical Asia

Abstract

The final stadium larva of Platysticta apicalis Kirby is described, based principally on a female exuvia collected in the wild, from near Deniyaya, southern Sri Lanka. Identification was by supposition, based on the proximity a teneral adult evidently recently emerged from the exuvia. Other exuviae of both sexes from the same site were also examined, judged to be of the same species, and used to augment the description. This is the first description of the larva of a member of the subfamily Platystictinae, and also describes the larval stage of the type genus of the family. In general form the larva of P. apicalis closely resembles all known members of the subfamilies Protostictinae and Palaemnematinae with a broad roughly heart shaped head, well tracheated saccoid gills and a flat prementum with convex lateral margins. In some details, such as the palmate molar crest of the left mandible, the moderately projected ligula and the longish well-spaced coronate setae on the margin of the ligula it most closely resembles species of the New World Palaemnema Selys, but despite the extreme conservatism in larval morphology exhibited by the family, it has several characters not seen elsewhere. This is in agreement with some, but not all, studies of relationships within the family based on analysis of adult DNA, which recognise Platystictinae and Palaemnematinae as sister groups.

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How to Cite

Orr, A.G. & Bedjanič, M. (2026) The final instar larva of the Sri Lankan endemic Platysticta apicalis Kirby (Odonata: Platystictidae, Platystictinae), including comparisons with known larvae of other platystictid subfamilies. Zootaxa, 5862 (3), 523–538. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5862.3.7