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This unique work is the first reference that provides detailed descriptions of the fully developed larvae of the Odonata suborder Anisoptera, including keys to families and genera, high-resolution photographs, distribution maps, and an updated list of the dragonfly species from Thailand. Also, because the adults are so well known in this country, this book will provide completion to our understanding of the life cycle of an entire fauna. Through the six chapters of this book, the reader will find an introduction with generalities of the order Odonata, a description of the morphology of a dragonfly larva with an emphasis on the structures used in the keys, a brief description of Thailand's geography, relief, hydrology, climate, precipitation, agriculture, history, and faunal studies, and detailed descriptions of each of the 82 genera of Anisoptera of Thailand whose larvae are known. This book will have broad appeal in the large community of odonatists around the world and for the aquatic entomologists, ecologists, and conservationists interested in Southeast Asian fauna in general.
Dr Rodolfo Novelo-Gutiérrez was educated at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. Following graduation from this institution, he taught General Entomology courses for more than a decade. In 1989, he joined the Institute of Ecology, A.C. in Xalapa City. Since then, his studies have focused on the taxonomy of tropical Odonata, although he has also published several papers on aquatic Coleoptera, Hemiptera, and Trichoptera. In 2010, he studied odonate nymphs at the University of Sains Malaysia at the invitation of Dr Che Salmah. From this experience, he published several papers on the odonate fauna of Southeast Asia. In 2012, he began collaborating with Prof. Sites on samples of Odonata nymphs of Thailand that had been collected over the previous 25 years.
Professor Robert Sites has had extensive involvement with Thailand over the past 25 years, including in both education and research. He has taught various entomology courses to Thai students, served as a major advisor for several Thai graduate students, and is known to his Thai colleagues and students as "Ajarn Bob". For nearly 20 years, he taught an annual University of Missouri study abroad course to Thailand for American students. His research on aquatic insects has been conducted in collaboration with Thai colleagues and has included fieldwork in nearly all Thai provinces. The taxonomic focus of his studies has been primarily on Odonata and Heteroptera but also has included studies on Trichoptera and several families of aquatic Coleoptera. In an ecological study, he studied the recovery of the freshwater lentic insect community in waterbodies along the coastline that were inundated by seawater during the tsunami of 2004.
