The Dragonflies and Damselflies of Eastern Africa – Handbook for all Odonata from Sudan to Zimbabwe

Tervuren 2014, kt., 264 Seiten, 1120 Farbzeichnungen, 360 Farbfotos. Few animal groups can represent the greatest (insects) and most threatened (freshwater) biodiversity on earth as well as dragonflies, perhaps the best-known and most colourful of all aquatic insects. Fifteen years in development, The Dragonflies and Damselflies of Eastern Africa is the first handbook of its extent and detail on tropical Odonata. Extending from Sudan and Somalia to Zambia and Mozambique, including the entire eastern half of the Congo Basin, the book covers a third of Africa, about ten million square kilometres, an area comparable to China or the United States, but treats almost two-thirds of the continent’s species. More than 500 species are illustrated with 1120 original drawings and over 360 colour photographs portraying 320 species. Identification keys to adult males of all species set a new standard for recognising ‘the birdwatcher’s insects’ in Africa, detailed genus descriptions provide the most comprehensive account of their ecology and taxonomy so far, and all species have been furnished with a vernacular English name for the first time. Verified checklists are presented for Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.