Devadatta is a genus of damselflies in the family Devadattidae, which is a family in the superfamily Amphipterygoidea. Species of Devadatta inhabit forest streams in Southeast Asia, with the greatest diversity occurring in Borneo. The family Devadattidae contains only the genus Devadatta and about 13 described species.
Members of the genus are medium-sized damselflies characterised by their broad wings and distinctive wing venation. They are typically found in shaded forest habitats and are often associated with small streams.
Family classification Devadatta was traditionally placed within Amphipterygidae, a family that formerly included several geographically isolated genera from Asia, Africa and the Americas. Morphological studies supported the distinctiveness of Devadatta, while molecular analyses failed to support a close relationship between the genera historically included in Amphipterygidae.
In 2014, Dijkstra and colleagues concluded that these lineages are best treated as separate families and established Devadattidae for the genus Devadatta. Subsequent phylogenomic analyses supported the recognition of Devadattidae as a distinct family of damselflies.
Species The following species are currently placed in Devadatta:
Devadatta aran Dow, Hämäläinen & Stokvis, 2015 Devadatta argyoides (Selys, 1859) Devadatta basilanensis Laidlaw, 1934 Devadatta clavicauda Dow, Hämäläinen & Stokvis, 2015 Devadatta cyanocephala Hämäläinen, Sasamoto & Karube, 2006 Devadatta ducatrix Lieftinck, 1969 Devadatta glaucinotata Sasamoto, 2003 Devadatta kompieri Phan, Sasamoto & Hayashi, 2015 Devadatta multinervosa Fraser, 1933 Devadatta podolestoides Laidlaw, 1934 Devadatta sokoh Dow, Hämäläinen & Stokvis, 2015 Devadatta tanduk Dow, Hämäläinen & Stokvis, 2015 Devadatta yokoii Phan, Sasamoto & Hayashi, 2015
Etymology The family name Devadattidae is derived from the type genus Devadatta, with the standard zoological suffix -idae used for animal families.
The genus name Devadatta was introduced by Kirby in 1890 as a replacement name for Tetraneura Selys, 1859, which was preoccupied. Kirby did not explain the derivation of the name. It is probably derived from the Sanskrit देवदत्त (Devadatta), meaning "given by the gods" or "god-given".
References
Further reading Devadatta podolestoides Laidlaw, 1934 - Endemic of Borneo