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Rhadinosticta banksi

species of insect

Specimen drawers, botanical folios and brass scientific instruments under study light
Science and natureInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionMay 7, 2026
Entity authorityQ9309994 ↗
Source-derived summary

Rhadinosticta banksi is an Australian species of damselfly in the family Isostictidae,

commonly known as the northern wiretail.

Northern wiretail prefers fresh water streams and pools. The adult is a small to medium-sized damselfly with a length of 35 to 40mm, with the hindwing 20 to 25mm. They are dull in colour with a bluish thorax and may have pruinescence toward the end of the abdomen. In Australia, the distribution is in suitable habitat from Broome, Western Australia, across the north of the continent to the southern Queensland border. The taxon has been assessed in the IUCN Red List as least concern.

Taxonomy

Rhadinosticta handschini, described by Lieftinck in 1933, has recently been made a synonym of Rhadinosticta banksi.

Etymology

The genus name Rhadinosticta is derived from the Greek ῥαδινός (rhadinos, "slender") and στικτός (stiktos, "spotted" or "marked"). The suffix -sticta is commonly used in names of taxa within the subfamily Isostictinae.

The species name banksi is named for Banks Island in Torres Strait, where the original specimens of this species were collected.

Editorial summary

“Rhadinosticta banksi” enters the record as species of insect. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Rhadinosticta, banksi and species can confirm, complicate or overturn.

Editorial reviewA practical orientation to terminology and classification, particularly when read beside dated observations, specimens or technical literature. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1933—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its strongest next move is a source search built around Rhadinosticta, banksi and species.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

“Rhadinosticta banksi” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Rhadinosticta, banksi and species provides the most credible route into that argument.

Evidence profile

The date and method of observation matter as much as the stated conclusion, especially where classification or consensus has changed. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 7, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q9309994. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1933.

Critical limits

A general summary may omit uncertainty, sample limits or methodological disagreement that is explicit in the technical record. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Check terminology, classification and the date of the cited evidence. Scientific names and technical consensus can change while older records retain historical value.

Best used for
  • Current terminology
  • Classification context
  • Finding cited technical literature
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Primary datasets, specimen catalogues, standards bodies and the most recent peer-reviewed literature.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Rhadinosticta banksi”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Rhadinosticta banksi primary sources, Rhadinosticta banksi archive and Rhadinosticta research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Rhadinosticta banksi”?
  2. Has classification or technical consensus changed since the cited source?
  3. Which observation, specimen, dataset or publication supports the account?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Rhadinosticta banksi” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.