Austrophlebia costalis, the southern giant darner, is a species of dragonfly in the family Telephlebiidae[3] endemic to eastern Australia.[1]
Southern giant darner | |
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Male | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Odonata |
Infraorder: | Anisoptera |
Family: | Telephlebiidae |
Genus: | Austrophlebia |
Species: | A. costalis
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Binomial name | |
Austrophlebia costalis | |
Austrophlebia costalis is an enormous dark dragonfly with strong yellow markings on its body and a brown band along the leading edge of its wings.[4] It inhabits streams and may be found on logs in shady areas.[5]
This species is believed to be one of the fastest flying odonates, with an old reference claiming to have clocked one at nearly 60 miles per hour (97 km/h) but no modern confirmation.[6]
I doubt if any greater speed than this occurs amongst Odonata