Amphipteryx is the sole genus of damselflies in the family Amphipterygidae, which is a family in the superfamily Amphipterygoidea. The genus is restricted to Mesoamerica, where its species inhabit tropical rainforests and cloud forests from Mexico to Honduras.
Amphipterygidae contains only the genus Amphipteryx, making it one of several small damselfly families recognised in modern classifications. Species are typically associated with shaded seeps and forest streams, while the larvae live amongst gravel and leaf litter in flowing water.
Family classification Selys established the "legion Amphipteryx" in 1853, and some modern authorities therefore attribute Amphipterygidae to Selys, 1853. Other sources attribute the family to Tillyard, 1917, who formalised many of Selys's higher groupings within a modern family-group classification. Selys originally included two species in Amphipteryx, one of which (A. lestoides) was later transferred to the genus Lestoidea and is no longer considered closely related to Amphipteryx.
For much of the twentieth century, Amphipterygidae included several geographically isolated genera from Central America, South America, Africa and Asia. Novelo-Gutiérrez (1995) removed Diphlebia and Philoganga from the family, and subsequent morphological and molecular studies found little support for relationships among the remaining genera.
Dijkstra et al. (2014) concluded that these lineages are best treated as separate families. Under this classification Amphipterygidae is restricted to the genus Amphipteryx, while genera formerly associated with the family are placed in Devadattidae, Philogangidae, Pentaphlebiidae, Pseudolestidae and Rimanellidae.
Species The following species are currently placed in Amphipteryx: Amphipteryx agrioides Selys, 1853 Amphipteryx chiapensis González, 2010 Amphipteryx jaroli Jocque & Argueta, 2014 Amphipteryx meridionalis González, 2010 Amphipteryx nataliae González, 2010
Etymology The family name Amphipterygidae is derived from the type genus Amphipteryx, with the standard zoological suffix -idae used for animal families.
The genus name Amphipteryx is derived from the Greek ἀμφί (amphi, "both", "double" or "on both sides") and πτέρυξ (pteryx, "wing"). Although Edmond de Sélys Longchamps did not explain the name in the original description, the genus was established on the basis of distinctive wing and wing-venation characters.
References Jocque, M. & Argueta, I. (2014). A new species in the genus Amphipteryx Selys, 1853 (Odonata, Amphipterygidae) from Pico Bonito National Park, Honduras. ZooKeys 408 71.