Melville Island Threadtail (Nososticta taracumbi)

The Melville Island Threadtail (Nososticta taracumbi) is a damselfly species of the family Disparoneurinae, which contains 12 species in Australia.

The identification key to the family Disparoneurinae consists of 23 couplets, 12 of which are pertinent to Nososticta taracumbi. Click on the numbers on the right to display the corresponding couplets. Or click on the ALLin1 button to see all the relevant couplets together in a single, scrollable window.

#	Family	Species	Couplet No.
	Disparoneurinae	Melville Island Threadtail (Nososticta taracumbi)	Disparoneurinae: Key couplet 2 of 23 ○ Wing membrane hyaline or yellow b ↑ Disparoneurinae: Key couplet 4 of 23 ○ Antehumeral stripes ochraceus, with whitish, pale green or blue b ↑ Disparoneurinae: Key couplet 6 of 23 ○ Abdominal tergum 5 with at most narrow basal spot or spots occupying 10% or less the length of the tergum, tergum 8 pale only along lateral margin b ↑ Disparoneurinae: Key couplet 7 of 23 ● Small ferruginous spot, or no pale mark, beside each lateral ocellus b ↑ Disparoneurinae: Key couplet 8 of 23 ● Postclypeus blue, or blue and black ● Genae substantially blue ● Antehumeral stripes each occupying almost half the width of mesanepisternum, or more, narrowing above b ↑ Disparoneurinae: Key couplet 9 of 23 ● Antehumeral stripes greenish blue or blue, inner margins straight or concave, separated in midline by half or more of the maximum width of stripe b ↑ Disparoneurinae: Key couplet 10 of 23 ● Superior anal appendages largely black, slender in profile, with single apex ○ Abdominal terga 3-5 with lateral, whitish basal spots, broadly separated in dorsal midline ○ Antehumeral stripes bright blue a ↑ Disparoneurinae: Key couplet 11 of 23 ● All of metepimeron pale ⇒ species: Melville Island Threadtail (Nososticta taracumbi) b ↑ Disparoneurinae: Key couplet 13 of 23 ● Posterior lobe of pronotum not scoop-shaped ● Apex, if defined, protuberant from lateral contour of lobe b ↑ Disparoneurinae: Key couplet 18 of 23 ● Posterior lobe of pronotum with well-defined apex, bearing blunt to finger-like or subtriangular projection a ↑ Disparoneurinae: Key couplet 19 of 23 ● Projection of apex of posterior lobe of pronotum blunt to finger-like b ↑ Disparoneurinae: Key couplet 20 of 23 ● Gena pale at anterior (upper) mandibular articulation ⇒ species: Melville Island Threadtail (Nososticta taracumbi) a ↑
1		Male only	Disparoneurinae: Key couplet 2 of 23 ○ Central portion of the wings with brown to black markings a ↑ b ↓ ○ Wing membrane hyaline or yellow
2		Male only	Disparoneurinae: Key couplet 4 of 23 ○ Antehumeral stripes bright orange a ↑ b ↓ ○ Antehumeral stripes ochraceus, with whitish, pale green or blue
3		Male only	Disparoneurinae: Key couplet 6 of 23 ○ Abdominal terga 5 and 8 with substantial basal green to yellowish marks, that on segment 8 occupying approximately half the tergum ⇒ species: Fivespot Threadtail (Nososticta solitaria) a ↑ b ↓ ○ Abdominal tergum 5 with at most narrow basal spot or spots occupying 10% or less the length of the tergum, tergum 8 pale only along lateral margin
4		Male only	Disparoneurinae: Key couplet 7 of 23 ● Broad oval greenish to whitish spot beside each lateral ocellus ○ Antehumeral stripes pale green ⇒ species: Malachite Threadtail (Nososticta liveringa) a ↑ b ↓ ● Small ferruginous spot, or no pale mark, beside each lateral ocellus
5		Male only	Disparoneurinae: Key couplet 8 of 23 ● Postclypeus black, genae substantially to entirely black ● Antehumeral stripes ochreous to greenish blue, narrow, parallel-sided or slightly widened above, sometimes short, truncate ⇒ species: Northern Threadtail (Nososticta fraterna) a ↑ b ↓ ● Postclypeus blue, or blue and black ● Genae substantially blue ● Antehumeral stripes each occupying almost half the width of mesanepisternum, or more, narrowing above
6		Male only	Disparoneurinae: Key couplet 9 of 23 ● Antehumeral stripes bright blue, occupying most of mesanepisterna, their inner margins straight, separated in midline by much less than half the maximum width of stripe ⇒ species: Citrine Threadtail (Nososticta koongarra) a ↑ b ↓ ● Antehumeral stripes greenish blue or blue, inner margins straight or concave, separated in midline by half or more of the maximum width of stripe
7		Male only	Disparoneurinae: Key couplet 10 of 23 ● Superior anal appendages largely black, slender in profile, with single apex ○ Abdominal terga 3-5 with lateral, whitish basal spots, broadly separated in dorsal midline ○ Antehumeral stripes bright blue a ↑ b ↓ ● Superior anal appendages blue, broad in profile, their apices shallowly bifid ● Abdominal terga 3-5 with dorsal yellowish or greenish-blue basal spots, entirely or narrowly subdivided in midline, sometimes very small or absent
8		Male only	Disparoneurinae: Key couplet 11 of 23 ● Posterodorsal portion of metepimeron black ⇒ species: Striped Threadtail (Nososticta mouldsi) a ↑ b ↓ ● All of metepimeron pale ⇒ species: Melville Island Threadtail (Nososticta taracumbi)
9		Female only	Disparoneurinae: Key couplet 13 of 23 ● Posterior lobe of pronotum reflexed, scoop-shaped, strongly concave above, uniformly rounded to subtriangular with rounded apex a ↑ b ↓ ● Posterior lobe of pronotum not scoop-shaped ● Apex, if defined, protuberant from lateral contour of lobe
10		Female only	Disparoneurinae: Key couplet 18 of 23 ● Posterior lobe of pronotum with well-defined apex, bearing blunt to finger-like or subtriangular projection a ↑ b ↓ ● Posterior lobe of pronotum without well-defined apex
11		Female only	Disparoneurinae: Key couplet 19 of 23 ● Projection of apex of posterior lobe of pronotum subtriangular ⇒ species: Striped Threadtail (Nososticta mouldsi) a ↑ b ↓ ● Projection of apex of posterior lobe of pronotum blunt to finger-like
12		Female only	Disparoneurinae: Key couplet 20 of 23 ● Gena pale at anterior (upper) mandibular articulation ⇒ species: Melville Island Threadtail (Nososticta taracumbi) a ↑ b ↓ ● Black band extending across gena from anterior mandibular articulation to, or almost to, eye, sometimes contiguous with black lower margin of gena