Belongs within: Anisoptera.
Contains: Gomphoidea, Cavilabiata, Telephlebiidae, Aeshnidae.
The clade Eteoanisoptera includes the majority of living dragonflies, excluding only the relictual genus Epiophlebia. Members of this group have relatively broad wings that are generally held flat at rest. The larvae are able to move quickly by explosively expelling water from the rectal cavity. Within the Eteoanisoptera, the Petaluroidea are a group of large dragonflies united by a number of forewing synapomorphies including a very narrow postnodal space, with many cells distal from the pterostigma, and a wide subdiscoidal triangle containing a number of cross-veins. The petaluroids are regarded as the sister clade of the remaining dragonflies in the Euanisoptera, but this latter clade is less strongly supported (Nel et al. 2001). Nymphs of modern Petaluridae differ from other dragonflies in burrowing in swampy or marshy soil, emerging from burrows at night to hunt (Richards & Davies 1977). The Aktassiidae were a Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous petaluroids with particularly dense wing venation and an increased number of cells in the regions of veins R and M.
The Aeshnoidea include the Aeshnidae, hawkers, a group of medium-sized to large, usually strong-flying dragonflies, and their close relatives. Larvae of Aeshnoidea bear sharp lateral spines on at least some abdominal segments, including segment 9 (Watson & O’Farrell 1991). The Cymatophlebiidae are a family of aeshnoids known from the later Jurassic and early Cretaceous characterised by undulating veins in the wings, particularly vein IR2. The contemporary Mesuropetalidae had a strongly transverse discoidal triangle in the fore wing, and veins RP2 and IR2 closely parallel.
Characters (from Grimaldi & Engel 2005): Wings with pterostigmal brace vein (supporting vein under inner edge of pterostigma); discoidal cell divided into two triangular cells; distinctive anal loop; small, frequently darkened area of veinless membrane present at base of wings near anal region; secondary ‘CuP’ vein associated with expanded anal region in hind wing. Ovipositor vestigial. Naiad able to propel itself using water pressure from rectal chamber.
<==Eteoanisoptera
| i. s.: PalaeaeschnaS02
| Juragomphus Nel, Bechly et al. 2001 [Juragomphidae]NB01
| `--*J. karatauensis Nel, Bechly et al. 2001NB01
| Libellulium longialataGE05
|--Petaluroidea [Petalurida]GE05
| |--ProtolindeniidaeRP02
| |--Aktassiinae [Aktassiidae]RP02
| | |--Aktassia Pritykina 1968NB01
| | `--Aeschnogomphus Handlirsch 1906NB01
| `--PetaluridaeTH06
| |--Uropetala carovei (White 1846)HL02
| |--Phenes raptor Rambur 1842FN02
| `--PetaluraTH06
| |--P. gigantea Leach 1815TH06
| |--P. hesperia Watson 1958TH06
| |--P. ingentissima Tillyard 1908TH06
| |--P. litorea Theischinger 1999TH06
| `--P. pulcherrima Tillyard 1913TH06
`--Euanisoptera [Exophytica]RP02
|--GomphoideaGE05
`--+--CavilabiataGE05
`--Aeshnoidea [Aeshnoptera]GE05
| i. s.: Chrysogomphus Ren 1994FB03
| `--*C. beipiaoensis Ren 1994FB03
|--EumorbaeschnidaeRP02
|--TelephlebiidaeWO91
|--AeshnidaeTH06
|--MesuropetalaRJ93 [MesuropetalidaeRP02]
| `--M. koehleriRJ93
|--CymatophlebiaW13 [CymatophlebiidaeRP02]
| `--C. longialataW13
`--Paramesuropetala [Liupanshaniidae]NB01
`--P. gigantea Bechly et al. 2001NB01
*Type species of generic name indicated
References
[FB03] Fleck, G., G. Bechly, X. Martínez-Delclòs, E. Jarzembowski, R. Coram & A. Nel. 2003. Phylogeny and classification of the Stenophlebioptera (Odonata: Epiproctophora). Annales de la Societe Entomologique de France 39 (1): 55–93.
[FN02] Fleck, G., & A. Nel. 2002. The first isophlebioid dragonfly (Odonata: Isophlebioptera: Campterophlebiidae) from the Mesozoic of China. Palaeontology 45 (6): 1123–1136.
[GE05] Grimaldi, D., & M. S. Engel. 2005. Evolution of the Insects. Cambridge University Press: New York.
[HL02] Haacks, M., & A. Lehmann. 2002. Some observations on dragonflies (Insecta: Odonata) throughout New Zealand. Weta 24: 13–17.
[NB01] Nel, A., G. Bechly, X. Martínez-Delclòs & G. Fleck. 2001. A new family of Anisoptera from the Upper Jurassic of Karatau in Kazakhstan (Insecta: Odonata: Juragomphidae n. fam.) Stuttgarter Beiträge zur Naturkunde Serie B (Geologie und Paläontologie) 314: 1–9.
[RP02] Rasnitsyn, A. P., & L. N. Pritykina. 2002. Superorder Libellulidea Laicharting, 1781. Order Odonata Fabricius, 1792. The dragonflies. In: Rasnitsyn, A. P., & D. L. J. Quicke (eds) History of Insects pp. 97–104. Kluwer Academic Publishers: Dordrecht.
[RJ93] Ross, A. J., & E. A. Jarzembowski. 1993. Arthropoda (Hexapoda; Insecta). In: Benton, M. J. (ed.) The Fossil Record 2 pp. 363–426. Chapman & Hall: London.
[S02] Sinitshenkova, N. D. 2002. Ecological history of the aquatic insects. In: Rasnitsyn, A. P., & D. L. J. Quicke (eds) History of Insects pp. 388–426. Kluwer Academic Publishers: Dordrecht.
[TH06] Theischinger, G., & J. Hawking. 2006. The Complete Field Guide to Dragonflies of Australia. CSIRO Publishing: Collingwood (Victoria).
[WO91] Watson, J. A. L., & A. F. O’Farrell. 1991. Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies). In: CSIRO. The Insects of Australia: A textbook for students and research workers 2nd ed. vol. 1 pp. 294–310. Melbourne University Press: Carlton (Victoria).
[W13] Witton, M. P. 2013. Pterosaurs: Natural History, Evolution, Anatomy. Princeton University Press: Princeton (New Jersey).