Anax (dragonfly)

For the Greek word, see Anax (Greek).

Anax (from Ancient Greek ἄναξ anax, "lord, master, king")^[2] is a genus of dragonflies in the family Aeshnidae. It includes species such as the emperor dragonfly, Anax imperator.^[3]

Anax
Anax imperator
Anax speratus
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Odonata
Infraorder:	Anisoptera
Family:	Aeshnidae
Genus:	Anax Leach, 1815[1]
Type species
Anax imperator Leach, 1815

Madagascar emperor
male A. tumorifer

Anax spp. are very large dragonflies. They generally have light-colored bodies and dark tails with pale markings.^[4]

Some species are migratory, for example Anax junius.

Species

The genus Anax includes these species:^[5]

• Anax amazili (Burmeister, 1839) – Amazon darner^[6]
• Anax aurantiacus Makbun, Wongkamhaeng & Keetapithchayakul, 2022
• Anax bangweuluensis Kimmins, 1955 – swamp emperor^[7]
• Anax chloromelas Ris, 1911 – dark emperor^[8]
• Anax concolor Brauer, 1865 – blue-spotted comet darner^[6]
• Anax congoliath Fraser, 1953
• Anax ephippiger (Burmeister, 1839) – vagrant emperor^[9]
• Anax fumosus Hagen, 1867
• Anax georgius Selys, 1872 – Kimberley emperor^[10]
• Anax gladiator Dijkstra & Kipping, 2015 – swordbearer emperor^[11]
• Anax gibbosulus Rambur, 1842 – green emperor^[10]
• Anax guttatus (Burmeister, 1839) – lesser green emperor^[10]
• Anax immaculifrons Rambur, 1842 – magnificent emperor^[12]
• Anax imperator Leach, 1815 – emperor dragonfly,^[13] blue emperor^[14]
• Anax indicus Lieftinck, 1942 – elephant emperor^[15]
• Anax junius (Drury, 1773) – common green darner^[6]
• Anax longipes Hagen, 1861 – comet darner^[6]
• Anax maclachlani Förster, 1898
• Anax mandrakae Gauthier, 1988
• Anax nigrofasciatus Oguma, 1915 – blue-spotted emperor^[16]
• Anax panybeus Hagen, 1867
• Anax papuensis Burmeister, 1839^[17] – Australian emperor
• Anax parthenope (Selys, 1839) – lesser emperor^[13]
• Anax piraticus Kennedy, 1934
• Anax pugnax Lieftinck, 1942
• Anax rutherfordi McLachlan, 1883
• Anax selysi Förster, 1900
• Anax speratus Hagen, 1867 – orange emperor^[18]
• Anax strenuus Hagen, 1867 – giant Hawaiian darner, pinao^[19]
• Anax tristis Hagen, 1867 – black emperor, magnificent emperor^[20]
• Anax tumorifer McLachlan, 1885
• Anax walsinghami McLachlan, 1882 – giant darner^[6]

Taxonomic history

The genus Anax was described by William Elford Leach in 1815 when he published the first bibliography of entomology^{[citation needed]} in Brewster's Edinburgh Encyclopedia.^[1]