- Source: Mecistogaster
Mecistogaster is a genus of large Neotropical damselflies in the family Coenagrionidae, commonly known as helicopter damsels. There are eleven species distributed from Mexico to Argentina.
Members of this genus have very long abdomens which they use to deposit their eggs in the water-filled rosettes of bromeliads growing on trees in the forest.
Species include:
Mecistogaster amalia (Burmeister, 1839) – Amalia Helicopter
Mecistogaster amazonica Sjöstedt, 1918
Mecistogaster asticta Selys, 1860
Mecistogaster buckleyi McLachlan, 1881 – Blue-tipped Helicopter
Mecistogaster jocaste Hagen, 1869
Mecistogaster linearis (Fabricius, 1776)
Mecistogaster lucretia (Drury, 1773)
Mecistogaster martinezi Machado, 1985 (nomen obscurum)
Mecistogaster modesta Selys, 1860
Mecistogaster ornata Rambur, 1842 – Ornate Helicopter
Mecistogaster pronoti Sjöstedt, 1918 – Atlantic Helicopter