The structure and function of the hind-gut of the nymph of the dragonfly, Uropetala carovei (White)

Abstract

The dragonfly family Petaluridae is widely considered, on the basis of morphology, behaviour, and life history, to include the most primitive representatives of the living Anisoptera. Indeed, Corbett (1960) has suggested that the mode of life of the immature stages may be akin to that of the earliest members of this sub-order. The life history of the New Zealand representative of the family Petaluridae, Uropetala carovei (White), has been described in detail by Tillyard (1909, 1910, 1911) and Wolfe (1953). The immature stages live in water at the bottom of long burrows which they excavate at the edges of boggy areas of streams, emerging at night to feed. Such an amphibious existence might be expected to impose unusual demands upon mechanisms of respiration, and water and ion balance.