Analysing the European genera of family Lestidae (Odonata: Zygoptera) with special emphasis on the status of Chalcolestes based on the morphological characteristics of male adults

Lestidae is a heterogeneous family with more than 150 species worldwide. There are many debates concerning its resolution. One of them is whether the genus Chalcolestes should be recognized as a genus or considered as a synonym of Lestes. We compared male characteristics of eight Hungarian species of three genera (Lestes, Chalcolestes and Sympecma) of the family Lestidae to get closer to the answer. We analysed the morphometry of genital and non-genital characteristics and the morphology of the secondary genitalia, especially the ligula. The morphometric analyses showed that two Chalcolestes species were the biggest in the most of the cases while Sympecma fusca (Vander Linden, 1820) and Lestes virens (Charpentier, 1825) were the smallest. The genera were separated mainly by the genitalic traits in the morphometric analyses. The differences in the secondary genitalia strengthen the generic status of Chalcolestes.

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