Synlestidae is a family of damselflies commonly known as sylphs or malachites. The family includes nine living genera distributed across sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, Australia and the Caribbean. Members are typically large, slender damselflies with metallic green, bronze or black coloration and pale markings, and many species rest with their wings partly spread.
Description Most synlestids inhabit streams and rivers, particularly in forested habitats. The larvae are aquatic and possess short, vertically held caudal gills.
Taxonomic history Tillyard established Synlestinae in 1917 for the Australian genus Synlestes. Fraser later recognised two subfamilies within the group, Chlorolestinae and Synlestinae. Molecular and morphological studies in the twenty-first century have refined the limits of the family, including the transfer of the African genus Nubiolestes from Perilestidae to Synlestidae by Dijkstra and colleagues (2013).
The family is currently placed within the superfamily Lestoidea.
Genera The following genera are currently placed in Synlestidae: Chlorolestes Chorismagrion Ecchlorolestes Episynlestes Megalestes Nubiolestes Phylolestes Sinolestes Synlestes
Fossil record Synlestidae has a modest fossil record extending from the Cretaceous to the Eocene, indicating a wider historical distribution than that of its living representatives.
Fossil genera The following fossil genera are currently placed in Synlestidae: †Albertalestes †Cretaphylolestes †Gaurimacia †Inacayalestes †Madres †Palaeophylolestes
Etymology The family name Synlestidae is derived from the type genus Synlestes, with the standard zoological suffix -idae used for animal families.
The genus name Synlestes is derived from the Greek σύν (syn, "together"), combined with Lestes, a genus name derived from the Greek λῃστής (lēstēs, "robber"), indicating resemblance to that genus.
References
Synlestidae. Identification & Ecology of Australian Freshwater Invertebrates. Murray-Darling Basin Authority.
Vasilenko, D. V. (2005). New damselflies (Odonata: Synlestidae, Hemiphlebiidae) from the Mesozoic Transbaikalian locality of Chernovskie Kopi. Paleontologicheskii Zhurnal 39(3), 280–83.