Twisters

Family Libellulidae      (Leach, 1815)

• Genus Tholymis    (Hagen, 1867)  Twister

Distribution Worldwide

• 2 species 
• One species found in the new world tropics

Africa

• 1 species widespread common in the African tropics.  

General information:

• Fairly large, big-eyed species, entirely pale brown turning red with maturity, with
• Distinctive hindwing markings being a large brown patch in the inner part  and mirrored by a patch of white pruinosity on the outer part of the wing
• Recognised by milky-white wing hindwing band-like markings standing out when perching or in flight.
• Females deposit eggs in flight on a submerged substrate (usually a leaf), typically the female turns around before each downward swoop This behaviour gave reason to the vernacular name.

Habitat and behaviour

• Hanging in dense vegetation during the day, it is active at dawn, dusk and before rain, flying erratically over standing water
• The milky-white wing markings standing out in near-darkness

Synopsis

• Only images of males are shown
• To view images of female follow the menu links to the main description pages
• Click on all images to enlarge.

A selection of images