Mecistogaster

{{Short description|Genus of damselflies}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2023}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| image = Helicopter Damselfly (Mecistogaster modesta) (6783352089).jpg

| image_caption = Mecistogaster modesta

| taxon = Mecistogaster

| authority = Rambur, 1842

}}

Mecistogaster is a genus of large Neotropical damselflies in the family Coenagrionidae, commonly known as helicopter damsels. There are eleven species distributed from Mexico to Argentina.Irusta, J. B., & Lencioni, F. A. A. (2015). [http://www.biotaxa.org/cl/article/viewFile/11.2.1565/11724 First record of Pseudostigmatidae (Insecta: Odonata) in the Northeast Region of Brazil.] Check List, 11(2), 1565.

Members of this genus have very long abdomens which they use to deposit their eggs in the water-filled rosettes of bromeliads growing on trees in the forest.{{cite book|author=Silsby, Jill|title=Dragonflies of the World|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ddzwJiuRP48C&pg=PA14|year=2001 |publisher=Csiro Publishing |isbn=978-0-643-10249-1 |page=14}}

Species include:

• Mecistogaster amalia {{small|(Burmeister, 1839)}} – Amalia Helicopter{{Cite iucn | author = von Ellenrieder, N. | author2 = Paulson, D. | name-list-style = amp | title = Mecistogaster amalia | volume = 2006 | page = e.T59739A12010532 | date = 2006 | doi = 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2006.RLTS.T59739A12010532.en }}
• Mecistogaster amazonica {{small|Sjöstedt, 1918}}
• Mecistogaster asticta {{small|Selys, 1860}}
• Mecistogaster buckleyi {{small|McLachlan, 1881}} – Blue-tipped Helicopter{{Cite iucn | author = von Ellenrieder, N. | title = Mecistogaster buckleyi | volume = 2009 | page = e.T159012A5306474 | date = 2009 | doi = 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2009-2.RLTS.T159012A5306474.en }}
• Mecistogaster jocaste {{small|Hagen, 1869}}
• Mecistogaster linearis {{small|(Fabricius, 1776)}}
• Mecistogaster lucretia {{small|(Drury, 1773)}}
• Mecistogaster martinezi {{small|Machado, 1985 (nomen obscurum)}}
• Mecistogaster modesta {{small|Selys, 1860}}
• Mecistogaster ornata {{small|Rambur, 1842}} – Ornate Helicopter{{Cite iucn | author = von Ellenrieder, N. | title = Mecistogaster ornata | volume = 2009 | page = e.T158808A5276319 | date = 2009 | doi = 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2009-2.RLTS.T158808A5276319.en }}
• Mecistogaster pronoti {{small|Sjöstedt, 1918}} – Atlantic Helicopter{{Cite iucn | author = von Ellenrieder, N. | author2 = Paulson, D. | name-list-style = amp | title = Mecistogaster pronoti | volume = 2006 | page = e.T12921A3398561 | date = 2006 | doi = 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2006.RLTS.T12921A3398561.en }}