Basking Malachite Damselfly
Physical Description
• Has a bright metallicgreen body with white,
powdery splashes on its
head and thorax
• Sits with its wings held
open
• In this position, the black
and white wing patches
are very conspicuous
Body Structure
•
•
•
•
Bilaterally Symmetrical
Jointed Exoskeleton
Body Segmented
Single Ventral Nerve Cord
• Head
• Thorax
• Abdomen
INSECTA
ARTHROPODA
Circulatory System
• Open Circulatory System
• Ectothermic
• 3 Chambers in Heart
Reproduction
• Mate in flight
• Male grasps the female at her neck with claspers located at the end of his
abdomen so that the two fly in tandem
• Female then curls round her abdomen to take sperm from the male
• Female deposits her eggs on plants that overhang the streams of their habitat
Growth/Development
•
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ezq_JWd1Sd8
Taxonomy
• Kingdom: Animalia
• Phylum: Arthropoda
• Class: Insecta
• Order: Odonata- Dragonflies and Damselflies
• Family: Lestoidea
• Genus: Chlorolestes
• Species: Apricans
• Scientific Name: Chlorolestes Apricans
Habitat
• The Basking Malachite Damselfly lives along clear,
rocky, shallow streams with long overhanging
grasses and bushes.
The Basking
Malachite’s main
habitat lies among
rivers in the
Eastern Cape
Region of South
Africa, where fewer
than 1,000 adult
species live.
Reasons Why Endangered
• Cattle Farming
• Trampling of cattle on riverbanks is destroying
the plants upon which females deposit their
eggs
• Detergent from washing clothes in rivers.
• Preyed upon by Rainbow Trout.
• The last location is not being protected.
• No action being taken.
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------- A TREY NEALEY PRODUCTION ;)