[Odonata-l] Best current text on Odonata morphology/taxonomy?

[Bob Reimer]

Thanks to Nick and Richard for their useful replies.  Now to start reading
Tillyard :)  Thanks for making it available in PDF format, Richard.

Warm regards,
Bob Reimer

-----Original Message-----
From: Richard Rowe [mailto:richard.rowe at jcu.edu.au]
Sent: Saturday, March 22, 2008 3:03 AM
To: breimer at eim.ae
Cc: Odonata-l at listhost.ups.edu
Subject: Re: [Odonata-l] Best current text on Odonata morphology/taxonomy?

Bob Reimer wrote:
> I'm just wondering if someone can give me a pointer to the best
> current text on Odonata morphology and taxonomy before I plow through
> Tillyard downloaded from Richard Rowe's site?  Is there anything that
> supercedes that text?
>
I wish there was ... but the information is scattered everywhere. My
Tree of Life site attempts a very shallow introduction.

The Corbet's dragonflies (= 'the Big Book') team intend to produce an
extended chapter on morphology and biomechanics, but we don't expect
that magnum opus to be out for 5-7 years.

Taxonomy - on Tree of Life John Trueman & I recommend sitting on
Watson's modified Fraser/Tillyard system until things settle. We know it
is wrong but we can at least talk to each other. I see just too many
mutually contradictory schemes floating about (published in a diversity
of journals with variable refereeing expertise, self-published, and in
MS) to feel change would be good. Without inertia we will make dragonfly
systematics incomprehensible ... Aeshna sensu Bloggs 2001 or Aeshna
sensu Bloggs 2003? No? Aeshna sensu Smith 1906? Anderson 1935? Freddo
2007? (authorities are fictitious but you can see my meaning)

John Trueman's article in Zootaxa reviews the history of odonate
taxonomy and nomenclature.
Trueman, J. W. H. 2007. A brief history of the classification and
nomenclature of Odonata. Zootaxa 1668:381-394.
(on the web at http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2007/zt01668p394.pdf ...
but we may have a subscription ... )

Wing venation systems are a problem. In Nth America people tend to use
derivatives of Comstock-Needham, outside Nth America Tillyard-Fraser
predominates. Riek-Kukolova-Peck has a following and Trueman's system is
recommended in the Gullan & Cranston textbook. As descriptors each
system is adequate, but they are based on different assumptions about
the evolution of the dragonfly wing so are not commensurable,

Richard