About Brachythemis contaminata (Fabricius, 1793)
Brachythemis contaminata (Fabricius, 1793) is a small dragonfly. Males have brown-capped yellowish-green eyes, an olivaceous-brown thorax marked with a reddish-brown humeral stripe and two brownish stripes on each side, and transparent wings with a broad bright orange fascia that extends from the base to within 2 to 3 cells of the reddish pterostigma. Their abdomen is ochreous-red, marked with dorsal and sub-dorsal brown stripes, and their anal appendages are reddish-brown. Females are similar in structure to males, but have a pale yellowish-green body color. Female wings are transparent, tinted yellow at the extreme base, and lack the bright orange fascia present in males. This species breeds in weedy ponds, lakes, and slowly moving streams, particularly favoring sluggish waters. It is very commonly found along sewage canals, tanks, ponds and ditches. According to Yu et al (2014), this dragonfly has the smallest known genome of its type. Its complete circular mitochondrial genome is 15,056 base pairs in length, making it the smallest odonatan mitogenome known to date. It is the first species in the family Libellulidae to have its complete mitochondrial genome sequenced, a resource that helps advance research into the genetics and evolution of these dragonflies.
