New Zealand is home to a limited variety (17 species) of Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies), which can be identified based on the appearance of the adult or of the aquatic larva. Of the sixteen species assessed on the IUCN red list, all are considered of least concern.
Number of species
In 1981 thirteen species were understood to reside in New Zealand, with ten species of dragonfly and three damselflies. According to Dragonflies and Damselflies of New Zealand (2019) this number had by then risen to fourteen, although that count excluded Xanthocnemis tuanuii, found on the remote Chatham Islands; and Pantala flavescens, which occasionally passes through but does not breed in New Zealand; with these two species included in the list the number comes to sixteen. The same year as Dragonflies and Damselflies of New Zealand was released, a new species of dragonfly was described, bringing the species count up to seventeen: Hemicordulia armstrongi was described from specimens previously understood to be H. australiae; it is believed that H. australiae does indeed still occur in New Zealand as well.
List of species Order Species name Common nameEndemic? Conservation status AnisopteraDragonfliesAdversaeschna brevistylaLancer dragonflyAntipodochlora braueriDusk dragonflyAnax papuensisBaron dragonflyDiplacodes bipunctataRed percher dragonflyHemicordulia australiaeSentry dragonflyHemicordulia armstrongiPantala flavescensWandering gliderProcordulia smithiiRanger dragonflyProcordulia grayiYellow spotted dragonflyTramea transmarinaRed glider dragonflyTramea loewiiCommon gliderUropetala caroveiBush giant dragonflyUropetala chiltoniMountain giant dragonfly ZygopteraDamselfliesAustrolestes colensonisBlue damselflyIschnura auroraGossamer damselflyXanthocnemis zealandicaCommon redcoat damselflyXanthocnemis tuanuiiChatham redcoat damselfly
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General references