/
L I B E L L U L A C L A V A T A .
G E N E H IC C H A R A C T E R .
Mouth furniflied with more than two jaws. Antennie like a briftle or hair, very iliort. Tail o f tlic male
armed with a pair o f forceps.
S P E C I F I C C H A R A C T E R .
Abdomen clubbed at the end, gibbous or thick a t the bafe. Body variegated with green, and deep brown
llripes.
A e s h n a CLAVATA; a b d o m ln c c l a v a to b a f i g ib b o , c o r p o r e f u f c o v i r id iq i i e v a r i e g a t o . Fab. Sfec. Inf. J .
p. 526. 4— Ent. Sy/i. 2. 385. 4.
This infe£l is defcribed by Fabricius, and in conformity with his new fyilem, is termed Aejlma da-
vata^. We rejeft his generic definition, becaufe it clearly belongs to the Linnzean Libellul2e. Libellula
clavata muil be placed with the European L. grandis and fordpata.—It is fcarce, and has never been
figured before.
L I B E L L U L A I N D I C A .
S P E C I F I C C H A R A C T E R .
Wings yellow, barred with brown, changeable to bright purple. Apex of the anterior pair white. Pofterior
pair blue at the bafe.
L ib e l l u l a i n d i c a : alis flavo fufcoque variis apice albis: pofticis macula bafeos cyanea. Fab. Ent. Sy/i.
T . 2. 376. 9.
Libellula variegata. Linn. Syji. Libellula hiftrio. Mani. Inf.
Another fpecies of Libeliuias, peculiar to India, and found in China, greatly refembles this infeét : it
is probably a variety o f it.
® Fabricius divides thefe two families of Linnæan Libellulæ into three diftinft genera; the firft retains the Linnæan name,
the fecond and third are called Aefhna and Agrión. Their moft eflential charafters are taken from the form and fituation of
the mouth, and therefore require a deep magnifier to determine them with accuracy. We have examined thofe parts in the
greater number of the fpecies Fabricius has defcribed, and find his charafters agree, except in one inftance; but, which alone
proves the imprafticability o f adopting the whole o f his fyftem: he deferibes ü íí//a /a and refers to the only figure
that has been given o f it, in one of the plates o f Edwards’s Natural Hiftory of Birds, 1745. Had he ever feen and examined
this rare fpecies, he muft have referred it to his genus Agrión, each o f the lips being bifid, or two-cleft, as in Libellula virgo
and puclla,—the eflential charafteriftic of the genus Agrión; for the mouths of the Libellulæ of Fabricius differ altogether in
ftrufture, and are not notched in the flighteft degree, as Libellula clavata, ferruginea, 6 maculata, and the European fpecies
Libellula clcprefla, will fufficiently illuftrate.