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Journal of Threatened Taxa Building evidence for conservaton globally www.threatenedtaxa.org ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893 (Print) Short Communication
Rediscovery of Martin’s Duskhawker Anaciaeschna martini (Selys, 1897) (Odonata: Aeshnidae) from Western Ghats, peninsular India, with notes on its current distribution and oviposition behavior
Kalesh Sadasivan, Manoj Sethumadavan, S. Jeevith & Baiju Kochunarayanan
26 January 2021 | Vol. 13 | No. 1 | Pages: 17543–17547 DOI: 10.11609/jot.6301.13.1.17543-17547
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Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 January 2021 | 13(1): 17543–17547 ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893 (Print) PLATINUM OPEN ACCESS htps://doi.org/10.11609/jot.6301.13.1.17543-17547
#6301 | Received 14 June 2020 | Final received 25 November 2020 | Finally accepted 04 January 2021 SHORT COMMUNICATION
Rediscovery of Martn’s Duskhawker Anaciaeschna martni (Selys, 1897) (Odonata: Aeshnidae) from Western Ghats, peninsular India, with notes on its current distributon and ovipositon behavior
Kalesh Sadasivan 1 , Manoj Sethumadavan 2 , S. Jeevith 3 & Baiju Kochunarayanan 4
1,4 TNHS Odonate Research Group (TORG), Travancore Nature History Society (TNHS), MBRRA, Mathrubhumi Road, Vanchiyoor, Trivandrum, Kerala 695024, India. 2 Wynter-Blyth Associaton, No 7D Plains View Garden, Tiger Hill, Coonoor, Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu 643101, India. 3 Research Biologist, SACON, Anaikat, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu 641108, India. 1 [email protected] (corresponding author), 2 [email protected], 3 [email protected], 4 [email protected]
Abstract: Rediscovery and recent distributon records of Anaciaeschna Anaciaeschna Selys, Anax Leach, and Gynacantha martni (Selys, 1897) (Odonata: Aeshnidae) from Western Ghats of Rambur (Subramanian & Babu 2017). Anaciaeschna peninsular India is discussed with notes on ovipositon behavior. Although mentoned in odonate checklists of the region, there are no Selys has two species in the Western Ghats, A. martni recent records or photographic evidence of the species from Western (Selys, 1897) and A. jaspidea (Burmeister, 1839) Ghats since its last report and collecton by F.C. Fraser from Annamalai Hills in 1933. (Fraser 1936). Fraser (1922) described Anaciaeschna donaldi from Kodaikanal (Palni hills) and recent studies Keywords: Anamalais, Checklist, Check-dam, Coonoor, Kerala, Munnar, demonstrate that A. donaldi is a junior synonymn of A. Nilgiris, Pampadum Shola Natonal Park, rediscovery. martni Selys, 1897 (Connif et al. 2019). Though there are many records of A. jaspidea from peninsular India, there are no recent records of A. martni. The last record The family Aeshnidae Leach, 1815 consists of large of the species was by F.C. Fraser in 1933 from Annamalai dragonfies known for their fast majestc fight. They Hills (Connif et al. 2019). The current distributon range are found in diverse wetland habitats from the coast for the species is Sri Lanka, Nepal, and peninsular India to high alttude montane lakes. Most are diurnal, to Japan (Subramanian et al. 2018; Connif et al. 2019). though some are crepuscular species and distributed Here, we report recent sightngs A. martni (Selys, 1897) globally. They breed in large ponds, tanks or in small from Western Ghats of peninsular India, with descriptve side-pools of fast-fowing streams; preferably with notes on its ovipositon behavior. vegetaton fringing it (Fraser 1936). Aeshnidae in Kerala State has representatves of three genera, namely,
Editor: K.A. Subramanian, Zoological Survey of India, Chennai, India. Date of publicaton: 26 January 2021 (online & print)
Citaton: Sadasivan, K., M. Sethumadavan, S. Jeevith & B. Kochunarayanan (2021). Rediscovery of Martn’s Duskhawker Anaciaeschna martni (Selys, 1897) (Odonata: Aeshnidae) from Western Ghats, peninsular India, with notes on its current distributon and ovipositon behavior. Journal of Threatened Taxa 13(1): 17543–17547. htps://doi.org/10.11609/jot.6301.13.1.17543-17547
Copyright: © Sadasivan et al. 2021. Creatve Commons Atributon 4.0 Internatonal License. JoTT allows unrestricted use, reproducton, and distributon of this artcle in any medium by providing adequate credit to the author(s) and the source of publicaton.
Funding: None.
Competng interests: The authors declare no competng interests.
Acknowledgements: The authors wishes to thank the members of Travancore Nature History Society, Trivandrum and the trustees and members of Wynter Blyth Associaton, The Nilgiris for their support in feld.
17543 J TT Rediscovery of Anaciaeschna martni from Western Ghats Sadasivan et al. Materials and Methods Natonal Park, near Top-staton in Munnar; observed, not This paper is based on three sightngs of the females photographed or collected; 16 June 2019; 2,250m. (3) of A. martni (Selys, 1897). The frst was from Nilgiris Anaciaeschna martni (Selys, 1897): Female ovipositng in September 2014 and later two sightngs were from observed by Manoj Sethumadavan (MS) and Jeevith.S Munnar region in Anamalais landscape of Western Ghats (JS); photographs of ovipositng female was taken at in June 2019 (Figure 1). Photographs of the specimens a Ralliah Dam in Coonoor (11.401N, 76.799E), Nilgiris were taken with Nikon D90 DSLR 90mm lens and Canon District by MS; 9 September 2014; 2,100m (Image 2). EOS 70D DSLR and 180mm macro lens. The current odonate checklist for Kerala follows Subramanian & Field Observatons Babu (2017). The present distributon of the odonates All observatons are of females of the species from of the Western Ghats region is based on Subramanian the stagnant montane waterbodies of southern Western et al. (2018). Weather conditons were documented in Ghats above 1,300m. the 2019 sightngs using Kestrel 5500 (Neilsen-Kelleran, Anamalais sightngs (Image 1, Figure 1): A fresh dead USA). Initals of the names of the authors are used in female was observed by KS by a roadside near Munnar text below in details of observaton. River, Munnar Town, Idukky District, Kerala, India at 10.15h on 15 June 2019. This was probably a roadkill and Results the weather parameters at the site was 27.50C, 79.30% Anaciaeschna martni (Selys, 1897) relatve humidity, and non-windy. The nearby lake had (Images 1 & 2) a water depth of >2m and was undergoing renovaton of Material Examined: (1) Anaciaeschna martni its banks (Image 1). (Selys, 1897): Female, dead specimen found by Kalesh A female of the species was sighted by KS & BK, Sadasivan (KS); Munnar River (10.085N, 77.061E), ovipositng in a montane pond, amidst grassland Munnar Town, Idukky District, Kerala, India; 15 June and watle plantaton on 16 June 2019, at 2,250m at 2019; 1387m; photographed by KS; 1,387m. (Image Pampadum Shola Natonal Park, near Top-staton in 1). (2) Anaciaeschna martni (Selys, 1897): Female Munnar. It was a bright sunny day, and the actvity ovipositng observed by KS and Baiju Kochunarayan was observed from 10.00 to 11.30 h and the weather (BK); in a montane lake at Bander in Pampadum Shola parameters was as follows: wind speed was 0.7m/s,
Figure 1. Study sites in Western Ghats of southern India.
17544 Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 January 2021 | 13(1): 17543–17547 Rediscovery of Anaciaeschna martni from Western Ghats Sadasivan et al.
Image 1. Anaciaeschna martni (Selys, 1897) Female from Munnar, 15 June 2019: A— lateral view of thorax | B—view of Labium, labrum and frons | C—dorsal view of frons with the ‘H’ shaped mark and thorax | D—dorsal view of last four abdominal segments and anal appendages | E— venaton | F—lateral view of the last four abdominal segments and anal appendages. © Kalesh Sadasivan.
temperature was 19.90C, and the relatve humidity was of downstream, only to reappear afer a while. Flight 54%. The pond was formed by a small check dam on was swif and straight. It later setled on the emergent a small montane stream and had a perennial supply of reed leaf and was ovipositng with its abdomen on water. The depth of the water was about 1.5m at the the submerged part of the reed. No males were seen deepest part of its sloping foor, which was partally on guard. Other species that were seen in the same formed by a large rock, though predominantly formed of habitat were Orthetrum triangulare (Selys, 1878), O. clay and mud. Water was relatvely clear and the edges pruinosum (Burmeister, 1839), Sympetrum fonscolombi of pond had good vegetaton. Dominant vegetaton (Selys, 1840), Pantala favescens (Fabricius, 1798), and around the pond was of emergent reeds Juncus infexus Aciagrion approximans krishna Fraser, 1921. L. (Juncaceae) and Viola pilosa Blume (Violaceae), the Nilgiri sightngs (Figure 1, Image 2): Ovipositng later forming the ground vegetaton at edges. The behaviour was photographed in bright sun, at about female would visit the pond once every 30min or so 11.00h on 09 September 2014, at a check-dam near afer a patrol, disappear into the emergent fringing Ralliah Dam in Nilgiris at an elevaton of 2,100m by vegetaton and circle to and forth for a few minutes MS & JS. The check dam was situated 500m of the just above the water level. It would then suddenly fy outlet of the dam and the source of water was from the
Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 January 2021 | 13(1): 17543–17547 17545 J TT Rediscovery of Anaciaeschna martni from Western Ghats Sadasivan et al. Fraser, 1921 were breeding.
Habitat and Distributon Anaciaeschna martni (Selys, 1897) is a high elevaton species restricted to the montane lakes and waterbodies in southern montane wet temperate forests and southern montane wet grasslands in the Western Ghats above 1,300m (Image 3). The current known distributon is Nilgiri, Palni, and Anamalais hills in peninsular India. It is otherwise seen from montane regions of Sri Lanka, Himalaya (Nepal and Bhutan) and further eastwards tll Japan (Connif et al. 2019).
Discussion The previous records of the species in Western Ghats and southern India are from Fraser only from Varatapari, Annaimalai (Anamalais) Hills in 1933; Ooty, Nilgiris in 1921, Yercaud in 1921, and Kodaikanal in Palani Hills in 1908 (Connif et al. 2019). Thereafer, this species had escaped notce in the Western Ghats untl now. As far as it is known, this species is restricted to the shola- grasslands of the region. The recent records confrm that the species is stll found in the montane habitats (1,500–2,250 m), on both sides of the Palghat Gap and is breeding there. The species breeds in montane Image 2. Anaciaeschna martni (Selys, 1897) female from Coonoor marshes, large stagnant ponds, and small lakes. The Nilgiris, 9 September 2014: A—female landed on the Nymphea leaf males are virtually never encountered in the feld, while on its margin | B—curving the abdomen and probing for ovipositon. the females are seen ovipositng on emergent aquatc vegetaton. The breeding season observed was from May to September, based on our observaton, and may overfow of the dam as well as the inherent seepages at be reasonably presumed to be extended from May to the locaton. At its origin the stagnaton is of a metre November tallying with the monsoon rains in the region. in width and hardly a foot in depth on swampy terrain The species is a strong fyer and hence may be expected the check dam extends in width to its farthest with to be found across similar mountainous locatons with 1.828m in depth and 4.572m in width. It has a radius suitable habitats in peninsular India as commented by of 25m to its banks from its deepest and has a width of Connif et al. (2019). The status of the species is possibly 50m. It had a luxuriant growth of Waterlilly Nymphaea locally ‘not uncommon’ but may be rare altogether in nouchali Burm.f. (Nymphaeaceae) and Schoenoplectus the Western Ghats. Further studies may be done to mucronatus (L.) Palla in Engl. (Cyperaceae) as emergent elucidate the status and distributon of the species along vegetaton. On its lef side it was edged with natve with those odonates occupying the montane lakes of bushes and on the right with grassland enclosed all Western Ghats, as an indicator of the rapidly changing along with Schoenoplectus reeds. The female landed environmental conditons of this threatened mountain on an exposed Nymphaea leaf on its edge (Image 2A) ecosystem. and then searched down for water by curving down its abdomen and probing (Image 2B). It sometmes walked References on from one leaf to another. It was also seen landing amidst the Schoenoplectus reeds, then move down to Connif, K., A. Sasamoto, R. Futahashi & L.M. Singh (2019). Revision of the status of Anaciaeschna donaldi and A. martni, with allied species, water and oviposit underneath on the submerged part and distributonal notes (Odonata: Aeshnidae). Odonatologica of it. No males were seen guarding or in the female’s 48(3/4): 265–284. htps://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3539740 Pseudagrion microcephalum Fraser, F.C. (1936). The Fauna of Britsh India including Ceylon and vicinity. In the same pond Burma. Odonata Vol. 3. Taylor & Francis Ltd., London, XII+461pp. (Rambur, 1872) and Aciagrion approximans krishna Subramanian, K.A. & R. Babu (2017). Checklist of Odonata (Insecta)
17546 Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 January 2021 | 13(1): 17543–17547 Rediscovery of Anaciaeschna martni from Western Ghats Sadasivan et al.
Image 3. Anaciaeschna martni (Selys, 1897) habitat: Montane lake at Coonoor, Nilgiris District, Tamil Nadu.
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Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 January 2021 | 13(1): 17543–17547 17547 PLATINUM The Journal of Threatened Taxa (JoTT) is dedicated to building evidence for conservaton globally by publishing peer-reviewed artcles online every month at a reasonably rapid rate at www.threatenedtaxa.org. OPEN ACCESS All artcles published in JoTT are registered under Creatve Commons Atributon 4.0 Internatonal License unless otherwise mentoned. JoTT allows allows unrestricted use, reproducton, and distributon of artcles in any medium by providing adequate credit to the author(s) and the source of publicaton.
ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893 (Print)
January 2021 | Vol. 13 | No. 1 | Pages: 17455–17610 Date of Publicaton: 26 January 2021 (Online & Print) www.threatenedtaxa.org DOI: 10.11609/jot.2021.13.1.17455-17610
Communicatons Assessment of threat status of the holly fern Cyrtomium micropterum (Kunze) Ching (Polypodiopsida: Dryopteridaceae) in India using IUCN Regional guidelines Diversity and distributon of snakes in Trashigang Territorial Forest Division, eastern – C. Bagathsingh & A. Benniamin, Pp. 17554–17560 Bhutan – Bal Krishna Koirala, Karma Jamtsho, Phuntsho Wangdi, Dawa Tshering, Rinchen Wangdi, Lam Norbu, Sonam Phuntsho, Sonam Lhendup & Tshering Nidup, Notes Pp. 17455–17469 First report of the Asiatc Brush-tailed Porcupine Atherurus macrourus Freshwater fshes of Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary, Western Ghats of Karnataka, India (Linnaeus, 1758) (Mammalia: Rodenta: Hystricidae) from West Bengal, India – Naren Sreenivasan, Neethi Mahesh & Rajeev Raghavan, Pp. 17470–17476 – Suraj Kumar Dash, Abhisek Chetri, Dipanjan Naha & Sambandam Sathyakumar, Pp. 17561–17563 Fish communites and associated habitat variables in the upper Subansiri River of Arunachal Pradesh, eastern Himalaya, India Record of the world’s biggest pangolin? New observatons of bodyweight and total – Sutanu Satpathy, Kuppusamy Sivakumar & Jeyaraj Antony Johnson, Pp. 17477–17486 body length of the Indian Pangolin Manis crassicaudata Gray, 1827 (Mammalia: Pholidota: Manidae) from Mannar District, Sri Lanka Diversity and distributon of odonates in Rani Reserve Forest, Assam, India – Priyan Perera, Hirusha Randimal Algewata & Buddhika Vidanage, Pp. 17564–17568 – Dipt Thakuria & Jatn Kalita, Pp. 17487–17503 First record of Touit melanonotus (Wied, 1820) (Aves: Psitaciformes: Psitacidae) in An assessment of the populaton status of the threatened medicinal plant Cantareira State Park, Brazil: new colonizaton or simply unnotced? Illicium grifthii Hook.f. & Thomson in West Kameng District of Arunachal Pradesh, – Marcos Antônio Melo & David de Almeida Braga, Pp. 17569–17573 India – Tashi Dorjee Bapu & Gibji Nimasow, Pp. 17504–17512 Is Bombus pomorum (Panzer, 1805) (Hymenoptera: Apidae) a new bumblebee for Siberia or an indigenous species? – Alexandr Byvaltsev, Svyatoslav Knyazev & Anatoly Afnogenov, Pp. 17574–17579 Short Communicatons Some new records of scarab beetles of the genus Onthophagus Latreille, 1802 The discovery of a melanistc Leopard Panthera pardus delacouri (Linnaeus, 1758) (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) from northern Western Ghats, Maharashtra, with a (Mammalia: Carnivora: Felidae) at Bukit Kudung in Jeli, Kelantan, Peninsular checklist Malaysia: conservaton and ecotourism – Aparna Sureshchandra Kalawate, Banani Mukhopadhyay, Sonal Vithal Pawar & – Kamarul Hambali, Nor Fakhira Muhamad Fazli, Aainaa Amir, Norashikin Fauzi, Vighnesh Durgaram Shinde, Pp. 17580–17586 Nor Hizami Hassin, Muhamad Azahar Abas, Muhammad Firdaus Abdul Karim & Ai Yin Sow, Pp. 17513–17516 Ecological importance of two large heritage trees in Moyar River valley, southern India On the epidemiology of helminth parasites in Hangul Deer Cervus hanglu hanglu – Vedagiri Thirumurugan, Nehru Prabakaran, Vishnu Sreedharan Nair & (Mammalia: Artodactyla: Cervidae) of Dachigam Natonal Park, India Chinnasamy Ramesh, Pp. 17587–17591 – Naziya Khurshid, Hidayatulla Tak, Ruqeya Nazir, Kulsum Ahmad Bhat & Muniza Manzoor, Pp. 17517–17520 Bulbophyllum spathulatum (Orchidaceae), a new record for Bhutan – Pema Zangpo, Phub Gyeltshen & Pankaj Kumar, Pp. 17592–17596 Histopathological fndings of infectons caused by canine distemper virus, Trypanosoma cruzi, and other parasites in two free-ranging White-nosed Coats On the occurrence and distributon of the narrowly endemic Andaman Lantern Nasua narica (Carnivora: Procyonidae) from Costa Rica Flower Ceropegia andamanica (Apocynaceae: Ceropegieae) – Jorge Rojas-Jiménez, Juan A. Morales-Acuña, Milena Argüello-Sáenz, – M. Uma Maheshwari & K. Karthigeyan, Pp. 17597–17600 Silvia E. Acevedo-González, Michael J. Yabsley & Andrea Urbina-Villalobos, Pp. 17521– 17528 The oat-like grass Trisetopsis aspera (Munro ex Thwaites) Röser & A.Wölk (Poaceae): a new record for the fora of central Western Ghats of Karnataka, India On a new species of Macrobrachium Spence Bate (Decapoda: Palaemonidae) from – H.U. Abhijit, Y.L. Krishnamurthy & K. Gopalakrishna Bhat, Pp. 17601–17603 Ayeyarwady River, Myanmnar – H.H.S. Myo, K.V. Jayachandran & K.L. Khin, Pp. 17529–17536 Star Grass Lily Iphigenia stellata Blater (Colchicaceae) – a new additon to the fora of Gujarat, India Review of the tger beetle genus Calomera Motschulsky, 1862 (Coleoptera: – Mitesh B. Patel, Pp. 17604–17606 Cicindelidae) of the Philippines – Milton Norman Medina, Alexander Anichtchenko & Jürgen Wiesner, Pp. 17537– A new record of pyrenocarpous lichen to the Indian biota 17542 – N. Rajaprabu, P. Ponmurugan & Gaurav K. Mishra, Pp. 17607–17610
Rediscovery of Martn’s Duskhawker Anaciaeschna martni (Selys, 1897) (Odonata: Aeshnidae) from Western Ghats, peninsular India, with notes on its current distributon and ovipositon behavior – Kalesh Sadasivan, Manoj Sethumadavan, S. Jeevith & Baiju Kochunarayanan, Pp. 17543–17547 A note on the current distributon of reedtail damselfy Protostcta rufostgma Publisher & Host Kimmins, 1958 (Odonata: Zygoptera: Platystctdae) from Western Ghats, and its additon to the odonate checklist of Kerala – Kalesh Sadasivan & Muhamed Jafer Palot, Pp. 17548–17553
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