Discussion regarding the gaps of knowledge on Odonata is common in the literature. Such gaps are even greater when dealing with basic biological data for biodiverse environments like the Amazon Rainforest. Therefore, studies that address, classify and standardize functional traits allow the elaboration of a wide range of ecological hypotheses.  Here, our main goal was to produce a database with 68 functional traits of 218 Odonata species that occur in the Brazilian Amazon. As a result, we provide a functional matrix and identified different functional patterns for the suborders, as well as a strong relationship between the different categories of traits. For this reason, we recommend choosing key traits that represent a set of functional variables, reducing the sampling efforts. In conclusion, we detect and discuss gaps in current literature and suggest possible paths to be taken or implement to increase our knowledge of odonate biology and ecology.

We organized a checklist of 218 species occurring in the Brazilian Amazon based on approximately 500 collection sites sampled over a decade by researchers of the Laboratory of Ecology and Conservation (LABECO). Subsequently, we started the selection of traits and their categories. We emphasize that some group of traits present different life history facets, in this way justifying the classification in different groups. Posteriorly, we carried out an active search for information in the scientific literature available in the databases: "Web of Science", and “Google Scholar”. The search was performed using the respective names of the 218 registered species as keywords. Additionally, we measured 22 adult morphological traits with the aid of a stereomicroscope, a digital caliper, and analytical balance. Finally, we surveyed the occurrence records of the 218 studied Amazonian species for the entire American continent. Part of these records were obtained from the digital platforms “species link” and “gbif”. In addition, data provided/shared by different Brazilian research groups were included, as well as records available in more than 2400 articles published for South America. All the data compiled at this stage added up to more than 40.000 occurrence records for the Americas. Subsequently, each of these species was classified according to its distribution amplitude along the biomes of the American continent: (i) short distribution (2 biomes); (ii) dispersed distribution (3-4 biomes); (iii) wide (5-6); and (iv) very wide (>7) distribution.

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