Overview
The Megapodagrionidae are a problematic family. There are some 285 spp. worldwide but the status of this family as a natural group has not been established. However, the various subgroups named as subfamilies are not in dispute. Australian Megapodagrionidae all fall within subfamily Argiolestinae (Madagascar, South America, Australasia and Pacific islands of Gondwanan origin, with a few apparent incursions northward into Borneo and Malaysia). There are 22 Australian species in five genera.
Podopteryx selysi
is a very large damselfly that breeds in tree-holes in tropical north Queensland rainforests: abdomen >42mm, hindwing >40mm. The other species are small to moderately large, breed on streams or else bogs and seepages, and are a common component of the damselfly fauna. Megapodagrionids are dark in colour, typically black with some yellow markings although three species show red or orange on the head and/or thorax. Some develop a grey-blue waxy pruinescence as they age. The discoidal cell is moderately pointed, the pterostigma moderately short, and there are intercalary veins in the outer part of the wing. A feature of all Australian Megapodagrionidae, and of most genera in the family, is that they perch with the wings held sideways, like dragonflies.
Austroargiolestes icteromelas
, a widespread south eastern species, occasionally develops secondary incomplete antenodal veins.