506 A CENTURY OF PROGRESS IN THE NATURAL SCIENCES 



ODONATA 



Leonora K. Gloyd 

 Illinois Natural History Survey, Urbana 



From a simple beginning as one genus with 18 species (Linnaeus, 1758), the 

 Odonata in 1853 had risen to the rank of a suborder of the Orthoptera and in- 

 cluded about 400 species distributed in six major groups. The increase in de- 

 scribed species was due largely to the work of Miiller (1764), Drury (1773), 

 Fabricius (1775-1798), Leach (1815), van der Linden (1825), Newman (1833), 

 Say (1835-1839), Burmeister (1839), Charpentier (1840), Rambur (1842), 

 Hagen (1840-), and Selys (1831-).i Several attempts had been made at clas- 

 sification based on the form of the mandibles, the form of the antennae, and on 

 the possession of aquatic larvae. A start had also been made, by Jan van der 

 Hoeven (1828), on the study of venation and its possible use in classification, 

 and on the study of the genitalia by Rathke (1832). Parts of the European odo- 

 nate fauna were fairly well known, a few species had been described from most 

 parts of the world, and about twelve papers dealing with fossil species had 

 been published. 



It was in 1853 that Baron Edmond de Selys-Longchamps (b. 1813, d. 1900), 

 respectfully and deservedly referred to as the "Father of Odonatology," com- 

 pleted his first synopsis of a subfamily based on the world fauna. The Synopsis 

 des Calopterygines was followed by a series of other synopses, monographs, and 

 "additions" (1854-1886) dealing with every subfamily except the Libellulinae. 

 Several of these were in collaboration with his esteemed friend. Dr. Herman A. 

 Hagen. Not only did Selys do a tremendous amount of groundwork in describ- 

 ing species (about 1,119), but he built up a classification using venational, geni- 

 tal, and external morphological characters much as is being done today for other 

 groups of insects. Some of his names, like Legion, Cohort, and Division for 

 higher categories, have given way to universally used terms but his groupings 

 have been supported by ever increasing evidence. In addition to these general 

 works both Selys and Hagen produced many other valuable papers. Toward 

 the close of the century Kirby wrote a revision of the Libellulinae (1889) and a 

 catalogue of the Odonata, including fossil species (1890). In the latter work 

 his principles of nomenclature, the result of much experience and careful con- 

 sideration, were employed to put the taxonomic work, up to that date, in good 

 order. Type species were indicated, synonyms listed, and a bibliography given 

 for each genus and species. The resultant number of valid species names was 

 about 1,800. Some of the other prominent workers during the Selysian era were 

 Brauer, Cabot, Heymons, Karsch, Lucas, McLachlan, Morse, Packard, Scudder, 

 Uhler, and AValsh. 



The first extensive paper on American Odonata was that of Hagen (1861), 

 Synopsis of the Neuroptera of North America with a List of the South Ameri- 

 can Species, which was written at the invitation of the Smithsonian Institution. 



1. A more detailed account may be found in the papers of Selys (1896) and of Kirby 

 (1901) in which the systematic literature from the time of Linnaeus to the close of the 

 nineteenth century is reviewed. 



