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Anax guttatus

Karakara‘avai

Blue-waist Dragonfly

Multimedia & Additional Resources

Type	Description	Download
Image:	Male with thorax detail.	90KB
Image:	Nymph skin	52KB
Image:	Male specimen with 'waist' detail	88KB

General Information

COMMON NAMES: Blue-waist Dragonfly, Emperor Dragonfly

TRADITIONAL NAMES: Karakara‘avai (RR), ‘Iva (MG), Kākaravāia (MK MT), Pākiriāvai (AK), Pepe Īkolo (PK)

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE India - Australia - Pacific to Cooks - ?

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Native; S.Group - rare; N.Group ?; Land, lowlands, young in Freshwater

SIGNIFICANCE LIST: Biocontrol - natural

KEY FEATURES: A very large dragonfly, wingspan to 11cm, body 8cm. MALE: THORAX green. ABDOMEN swollen-section green bright blue-green bars on sides; slender-section dark brown with small aple markings on the sides. WINGS forewings clear; hindwings inner-half tinged brown, outer-half clear.

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

Southern Group: Present Makatea:
RR	MG	AT	MK	MT	AK	PL	TK	MN
++	P

Northern Group:
TN	MH	RK	PK	NS	SW
			+

Key to Symbols

blank	no data
-	absent	L	localised
X	extinct 'naturally'	W	widespread
XQi	quarantine intercepted	R	recent
XQe	eradicated	?	query preceding category
P	present	T?	taxonomic query
S	seasonal	nn	present, said to have no name
O	occasional	?1	present, name not investigated
++++	very common	?2	presence not verified, no name recorded
+++	common	N/A	absent, name not expected
++	uncommon
+	rare
Cook Islands islands: RR =Rarotonga, MG = Mangaia, AT =‘Ātiu, MK=Ma‘uke, MT=Miti‘āro, AK=Aitutaki, PL=Palmerston, PN=Penrhyn, MN=Manuae, TK=Takūtea, TN=Tongareva (TS=Tongaleva Spoken, TW=Tongareva Written, they say "el" but write "r"), MH=Manihiki, RK=Rakahanga, PK=Pukapuka, NS=Nassau, SW=Suwarrow. After a Polynesian name: ^=orthography query. Countries and other: FIJ=Fiji, WT=Wallis & Futuna, SAM=Samoa, TON=Tonga, NIU=Niue, CK=Cook Islands, CKM=Cook Islands Māori, FP=French Polynesia, AUS=Australs, SOC=Societies, TAH=Tahiti, TUA=Tuamotus, MQS=Marquesas, MNG=Mangareva, PIT=Pitcain group, EAS=Easter Island, HAW=Hawai‘i, NZ=New Zealand, NZM=New Zealand Māori

Scientific Taxonomy

Anax guttatus (Burmeister, 1839)
SYNONYMS: Aeschna guttata Burmeister, 1839; Anax magnus Rambur, 1842; Anax goliathus Fraser, 1922

TAXONOMY: ANIMALIA; ARTHROPODA; ATELOCERATA; HEXAPODA; INSECTA; PTERYGOTA; Odonata; Anisoptera; AESHNIDAE

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Rarotonga: specimens 7/1937 & 11/1937, C.E.Clarke, reported Wise (1980); specimens, 1950-51, in Lieftinck 1953; specimen 10/1975 in Walker & Dietz 1979; specimen+photo (#067), lowland, c.1985, in NZAC; specimen, lowland, 8/1997, L.Doig. Pukapuka: specimens+photo, 2/2004, in Gov. Res., ID GMcC.

References:
Special Reference: Wise, 1980: Records of South Pacific Dragonflies (Hexapoda: Odonata). Rec. Auckland Inst. Mus. 17:175-178, W&D79,

Data Update History (information):
zTX, zB02, zM02, zupM03b, zD02

Web Resources

Citation Information

McCormack, Gerald (2007) Cook Islands Biodiversity Database, Version 2007.2. Cook Islands Natural Heritage Trust, Rarotonga. Online at http://cookislands.bishopmuseum.org.
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