

5. — T/te Odonata or Brayonflies of South Africa. — By F. Ris. 



(With Plates V-XII aud 77 text-figures). 



The origin of the present paper is a request by Dr. L. Peringuey to 

 the author to write a paper which wouhl help the resident entomo- 

 logist to get a reliable knowledge of the South African dragonflies. 

 In 1908 the writer had published in " Schultze's Forsehungsreise ini 

 westlicheu und zentralen Siidafrika '" (' Denkschrift mediz.-naturw. 

 Gres. Jena,' xiii, pp. 303-346, 1908) an annotated catalogue of the fauna 

 herein discussed, and this catalogue, in the opinion of Dr. Peringuey, 

 would have to be modified for the purpose above mentioned. The 

 collection of the Schultze expedition being a small one, and other 

 material available at the time very limited, the paper of 1908 was a 

 compilation to a large extent ; also its character as a catalogue made 

 its value doubtful for the student who had no access to the libraries 

 aud collections of European cities. The need of the local collector 

 and student was a descriptive and fully illustrated paper. But to 

 attain this object an extensive collection was indispensable, and Dr. 

 Peringuey kindly agreed to provide specimens for the purpose; the 

 results of his initiative reached me in a considerable number of 

 consignments, and were in the long run amply sufficient to serve as a 

 basis for the pi-esent work. Moreover, the author had at his disposal 

 an interesting collection of South African dragonflies made by Miss 

 Margaret Fountaine, of Bath, loaned through the kindness of her 

 friend, Mr. K. J. Morton, of Edinburgh, and an extensive lot of very 

 interesting specimens from the British Museum, loaned through the 

 good offices of Messrs. G. Meade-Waldo aud Herbert Campion. At 

 a somewhat later date Mr. E. B. Williamson, of Bluffton, Indiana, 

 U.S.A., forwarded a large collection, consisting of various lots sent him 

 by Mr. G. F. Leigh, of Durban, Natal, aud by Mr. G. A. K. Marshall, 

 when this gentleman was a resident of Salisbury, Mashonaland. 

 Other specimens from the Marshall collections were also included in 

 the British Museum lots as well as in material sent for study by the 

 Swedish Imperial Museum at Stockholm. The Congo Museum at 

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