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The Journal of Threatened Taxa (JoTT) is dedicated to building evidence for conservaton globally by publishing peer-reviewed artcles OPEN ACCESS online every month at a reasonably rapid rate at www.threatenedtaxa.org. All artcles published in JoTT are registered under Creatve Commons Atributon 4.0 Internatonal License unless otherwise mentoned. JoTT allows unrestricted use, reproducton, and distributon of artcles in any medium by providing adequate credit to the author(s) and the source of publicaton. Journal of Threatened Taxa Building evidence for conservaton globally www.threatenedtaxa.org ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893 (Print) Short Communication A note on the ecology and distribution of Little Bloodtail Lyriothemis acigastra Brauer, 1868 (Insecta: Odonata: Libellulidae) in Kerala, India Jeevan Jose, Muhamed Sherif & A. Vivek Chandran 26 May 2021 | Vol. 13 | No. 6 | Pages: 18642–18646 DOI: 10.11609/jot.7139.13.6.18642-18646 For Focus, Scope, Aims, and Policies, visit htps://threatenedtaxa.org/index.php/JoTT/aims_scope For Artcle Submission Guidelines, visit htps://threatenedtaxa.org/index.php/JoTT/about/submissions For Policies against Scientfc Misconduct, visit htps://threatenedtaxa.org/index.php/JoTT/policies_various For reprints, contact <[email protected]> The opinions expressed by the authors do not refect the views of the Journal of Threatened Taxa, Wildlife Informaton Liaison Development Society, Zoo Outreach Organizaton, or any of the partners. The journal, the publisher, the host, and the part- Publisher & Host ners are not responsible for the accuracy of the politcal boundaries shown in the maps by the authors. Member Threatened Taxa Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 May 2021 | 13(6): 18642–18646 ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893 (Print) OPEN ACCESS htps://doi.org/10.11609/jot.7139.13.6.18642-18646 #7139 | Received 28 January 2021 | Final received 14 April 2021 | Finally accepted 28 April 2021 SHORT COMMUNICATION A note on the ecology and distributon of Litle Bloodtail Lyriothemis acigastra Brauer, 1868 (Insecta: Odonata: Libellulidae) in Kerala, India Jeevan Jose 1 , Muhamed Sherif 2 & A. Vivek Chandran 3 1,2,3 Society for Odonate Studies, Vellooparampil, Kuzhimatom PO, Kotayam, Kerala 686533, India. 3 Department of Geology and Environmental Science, Christ College, Irinjalakuda, Thrissur, Kerala 680125, India. 1 [email protected], 2 [email protected], 3 [email protected] (corresponding author) Abstract: The behaviour and ecology of an elusive dragonfy, greenish-yellow eyes. The base colour of male is blood Lyriothemis acigastra (Insecta: Odonata: Libellulidae) based on red, marked with black. Its abdomen is tapered from observatons from Kadavoor Village, Ernakulam District, Kerala are detailed. Range extension of the species within Kerala afer its frst base to end and caudal appendages are black (Image report in 2013 is also discussed. 2). The female is similar to the male, except that the Keywords: Facebook group, odonates of Kerala, range extension, abdomen is cylindrical rather than tapered from base southern India. to end and has reddish-yellow as base colour instead of blood red (Image 3) (Fraser 1936). L. acigastra is categorized as a Data Defcient species by IUCN and is Lyriothemis Brauer, 1868 is a genus of dragonfies in also known to occur in China, Myanmar, and Bangladesh the family Libellulidae (Insecta: Odonata: Anisoptera) (Dow 2009; Kalkman et al. 2020). In Kerala, it was with 17 known species, mostly found in eastern Asia frst recorded from Aravanchal and Madayipara areas (Paulson & Schorr 2020). Five species in the genus are in Kannur District between July and September 2010 known from India: L. acigastra (Selys, 1878), L. bivitata (Emiliyamma et al. 2013). Here, we present some (Rambur, 1842), L. cleis Brauer, 1868, L. tricolor Ris, 1916, insights on its behaviour and breeding habitat based and L. mortoni Ris, 1919 (Subramanian & Babu 2017; on observatons from Kadavoor, Ernakulam District, Dawn 2021). Lyriothemis species were thought to be Kerala. Dragonfies of Kerala (htps://www.facebook. restricted to the northeastern parts of the country, but com/groups/1401144716840784) is a Facebook group in 2013, L. acigastra and L. tricolor were recorded from administered by Society for Odonate Studies (htps:// the southern state of Kerala. L. tricolor was found to odonatesociety.org/), a non-governmental organizaton breed in the tree holes of evergreen and semievergreen formed for the study and conservaton of odonates forests in the southern Western Ghats (Das et al. 2013). in Kerala. It is a public group started in 2014 and has Not much is known about the behaviour and ecology of over 2,500 members at present. The members post L. acigastra (Emiliyamma et al. 2013). photographs of odonates from various locatons in Kerala L. acigastra is a small dragonfy with brown-capped and discuss their taxonomy, behaviour, and ecology. We Editor: Anonymity requested. Date of publicaton: 26 May 2021 (online & print) Citaton: Jose, J., M. Sherif & A.V. Chandran (2021). A note on the ecology and distributon of Litle Bloodtail Lyriothemis acigastra Brauer, 1868 (Insecta: Odonata: Libellulidae) in Kerala, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 13(6): 18642–18646. htps://doi.org/10.11609/jot.7139.13.6.18642-18646 Copyright: © Jose 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: We are grateful to the members of the Facebook group, Dragonfies of Kerala, for collatng informaton on odonates of Kerala. 18642 Ecology and distributon of Lyriothemis acigastra in Kerala, India Jose et al. J TT Image 1. Records of Lyriothemis acigastra from Kerala. discuss the range extension of L. acigastra based on the JJ has been observing odonates in the village and observatons in this social media group. maintaining a checklist of the species observed since 2003. The individual odonates were photographed Materials and Methods using Sony ILCA 77M2 DSLR camera and 250mm lens, Kadavoor is a village in the Paingotoor and identfed referring to taxonomic monographs Gramapanchayat of Kothamangalam Taluk, Ernakulam (Fraser 1933, 1934, 1936) and feld guides (Subramanian District, Kerala (10.001°N & 76.741°E, 25m). It is a 2005, 2009; Kiran & Raju 2013). A total of 68 species of small agricultural village nestled near the foothills of odonates belonging to 13 families under 49 genera were the Western Ghats (Image 4). The northern side of recorded from the area (Jose 2016). the village is bordered by forests of Kothamangalam Division. The southern side is bordered by Kaliyar River, Results and Discussion which is a major tributary of Muvatupuzhayar. Several Observatons of L. acigastra from Kadavoor streams originate from the forest and fow through the A few individuals of L. acigastra were frst seen at village to join Kaliyar River. Most of these streams run Kadavoor in June 2015. The species was observed in dry afer December. The Pothencheeni- Kadakolmuri and around the canals associated with pineapple and thodu, which is the main stream of the village, fows very banana plantatons near the paddy felds (Image 5). narrowly during the early summer days and ends up as a Since then, every year, the species would frst appear in mere waterhole in peak summer. The area is doted with June with the onset of the south-west monsoon. Mass paddy felds, banana plantatons and pineapple farms. emergence was observed during the months of June and Numerous man-made canals crisscross the agricultural July. More than 1,000 individuals were recorded in July felds, running into Pothencheeni- Kadakolmuri Stream 2016 and there on in every June–July period tll 2020. which in turn drains into the Kaliyar River. Interestngly, no individuals were observed afer the Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 May 2021 | 13(6): 18642–18646 18643 J TT Ecology and distributon of Lyriothemis acigastra in Kerala, India Jose et al. Table 1. Observatons of Lyriothemis acigastra from the Facebook actve during evenings. On monsoon days, when there group ‘Dragonfies of Kerala’. were gaps between rains, they were seen fying around Name of the Year Locaton/District Month actvely. They have a slow, low lying fight, covering Observer short distances at a tme. The males were usually 2015 Kadavoor, Ernakulam June & July Jeevan Jose seen perched on vegetaton along the banks of canals. Sandeep 2015 Kannur July Gangadharan Females were seen rarely, nearer to water, mostly inside 2016 Kadavoor, Ernakulam June & July Jeevan Jose the canals. The prey of L. acigastra consisted mostly of 2016 Madayippara, Kannur July Suhas Perambra small dipteran fies and microlepidoptera. 2016 Kannur August Premraj Males were observed to be fercely territorial, chasing away rival males. The matng was quick, in 2017 Kuruvilangad, Kotayam July Deepu G Nair Renjith Jacob fight, and the pair occasionally perched on vegetaton 2018 Kadavoor, Ernakulam June Mathews for the last few seconds (Image 6). Matng was always Chedikkulam & 2018 June & July Yadu observed near the canal banks. Immediately afer Ambalakkandy, Kannur matng, females were observed laying eggs in the canals, 2019 Kadavoor, Ernakulam June Jeevan Jose the banks of which had thick herbaceous cover. It was Koothatukulam, Renjith Jacob 2019 July Ernakulam Mathews noted that the water in these canals were stagnant or 2019 Katampally, Kannur September Afsar Nayakkan semi-stagnant with explosive growth of green algae. Egg 2020 Udumbanoor, Idukki May & June Arun Lal laying in free fowing water was never observed. Males 2020 Kadavoor, Ernakulam June Jeevan Jose kept watch from a distance (distance guarding) while the 2020 Vechoochira, Kotayam June Tony Antony females laid the eggs. Females were seen hovering in a June & partcular locaton ficking their abdomen like a spoon, 2020 Thodupuzha, Idukki Ambily August occasionally touching their abdomen in the water.