Dragonflies and damselflies are conspicuous insects – many are large and brightly coloured. Here for the first time is a comprehensive guide to the Australian dragonfly fauna.
The book includes identification keys not only for adults but also for their larvae, commonly known as ‘mud eyes’ and often used as bait for freshwater fish. With stunning full-colour images and distribution maps, the book covers all 30 families, 110 genera and 324 species found in Australia.
Dragonflies are valuable indicators of environmental well-being. A detailed knowledge of the dragonfly fauna and its changes is therefore an important basis for decisions about environmental protection and management. Their extraordinary diversity will interest entomologists and amateur naturalists alike.
Only available complete guide to Australian dragonflies
Covers all 30 families, 110 genera and 324 species found in Australia
Full colour images of all species
Distribution maps for all species
Separate identification keys for both adults and larvae
Foreword by Philip Corbet
Introduction
Species guide
Zygoptera
Epiproctophora
Illustrated glossary
Keys to adults
Keys to larvae
Checklist of species
References and further reading
Index of scientific names
Index of common names
Entomologists and odonatologists
Freshwater ecologists
Environmental consultants
Environmental protection agencies
Undergraduate biology students
Amateur naturalists
"This book will appeal to everyone, from beginners to students and researchers, and should become the first reference book that anyone interested in Australian Odonata will consult." Richard Marchant, The Vitorian Naturalist, June 2007
"The guide is a profusely illustrated visual feast. Highly recommended - at 376 pages, you get your money's worth, yet it remains portable for the field." Greg Czechura, WILDLIFE Australia Magazine, 2007
"I cannot recommend this book highly enough to those interested in Australian Odonata and freshwater habitats." Richard Marchant, Australian Society for Limnology Newsletter, Vol. 45, No. 1, March 2007
"This wonderful field guide can be wholeheartedly recommended to all who are interested in the biodiversity of Australia and/or of the order Odonata. The book is of equal usefulness for laymen as well as for entomologists. The price is absolutely adequate, especially considering the outstanding quantity." Gunter Bechly, Aquatic Insects: International Journal of Freshwater Entomology, March 2007
"As a reference book, CSIRO's The Complete Guide to Dragonflies of Australia is unexecelled." John T. Moss, Butterfly and Other Invertebrates Club Inc. Newsletter, March 2007
"It is an excellent tome and I have no doubt that it will be the 'Bible' of Australian Dragonflies for many years to come." Stephen Richards (South Australian Museum, Vertebrates Department)
Gunther Theischinger has had a lifelong interest in aquatic insects. He has collected specimens in Australia, Greece, Spain and Australia and published more than 200 scientific papers. In the last few years he has described more than 60 new species and several new genera of Australian dragonflies. He has been a visiting scientist at the Australian National Insect Collection in Canberra, and is a Research Associate of the Australian Museum and a Visiting Fellow at the Smithsonian Institution, USA.
John Hawking is an invertebrate ecologist at Murray-Darling Freshwater Research Centre in New South Wales. He holds numerous workshops on identification of freshwater invertebrates.
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