Dragonflies and damselflies (Insecta: Odonata) of Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, India

: The present study was carried out to reveal the odonate diversity in Jabalpur city and its surrounding area in Madhya Pradesh, central India. During the study period of 2008–2019 a total of 75 species of odonates belonging to two suborders and nine families were recorded. Twenty-one new species were recorded for Jabalpur district and four for Madhya Pradesh; 37% (28) species were abundant or very common, 19% (14) were common, 16% (12) were frequent, 24% (18) rare, and 4% (3) very rare. The maximum number of odonates were found in family Libellulidae (n= 32), followed by Coenagrionidae (n= 17), Gomphidae (n= 09), Platycenemididae (n= 06), Aeshnidae (n= 05), Lestidae (n= 03), Macromiidae (n= 02), and Chlorocyphidae (n= 01). Of 75 species recorded from Jabalpur city, 72 come under the IUCN Red List. Among them, Indothemis carnatica come under Near Threatened (NT) category, 65 species come under Least Concern (LC) Category, six species under Data Deficient (DD), and three species remain not assessed. The study supports the value of the city area in providing habitat for Odonata.


INTRODUCTION
Odonates (damselflies and dragonflies) are an ancient insect order with origins in the Carboniferous era about 250 million years ago. They probably mark the first time that evolution experimented with the ability to hover in the air over an object of interest . They are beautifully coloured, primarily aquatic in their pre-adult stages, and closely tied to freshwater ecosystems such as rivers, streams, lakes, marshes, and rice fields. Species are usually highly specific to habitats, but some have adapted to using man-made water bodies (Tiple & Chandra 2013). Odonates are important for water-rich habitats such as wetlands, lakes and rainforests, and they are also significant for habitats where water is scarce. Thus the Odonata are regarded as vital to the survival of life (Dijkstra 2007). Odonates are economically significant and act as useful biocontrol agents, since adults prey on mosquitoes, flies, moths, aphids, termites, and small beetles, while larvae feed on mosquito larvae and other soft-bodied aquatic invertebrates. Odonata are reliable indicators of overall ecosystem health, since they are highly sensitive to environmental changes (Dijkstra & Lewington 2006;Andrew et al. 2008).
Globally, 6,356 species in 693 genera of odonates have been reported (Schorr & Paulson 2022), of which 498 species and 27 Subspecies in 154 genera and 18 families are known from India Joshi & Sawant 2020;Bedjanič et al. 2020;Payra et al. 2020Payra et al. , 2021Dawn 2021). Fraser (1933Fraser ( -1936 published three volumes on Odonata in the 'Fauna of British India' and included 536 species and subspecies of Odonata from India, including Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka and included many species from Madhya Pradesh. After Fraser's work, some additions were made by Bhasin (1953), Prasad & Ghosh (1988), Mitra (1988Mitra ( , 1995, Srivastava & SuriBabu (1997), Prasad & Varshney (1995), and Mishra (2007). Many additions have been made to the fauna of Madhya Pradesh by Tiple et al. (2011Tiple et al. ( , 2012 with the latest updated checklist being Tiple & Chandra (2013) revealing 106 species under 53 genera and 12 families with 14 new records from Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. Recently Tiple & Payra (2020) reported Epophthalmia frontalis as a new record for Madhya Pradesh. Though the diversity of Odonata had been well documented from Madhya Pradesh, no consolidated checklist of Odonata of Jabalpur city and its surrounding areas is available and hence the present one with an objective of exploring the diversity and abundance.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Opportunistic sampling and photo documentation were conducted in selected areas of Jabalpur city and its surrounding areas. Surveys were carried out from 2008 to 2019. Most of the samplings were done between 1000 h and 1400 h, when odonates control their body temperature in sunlight (Subramanian 2009;Koli et al. 2014;Payra & Tiple 2019). Identification of odonates was primarily made directly in the field from specimens collected with handheld aerial sweep nets and subsequently released without harm. Photographs of specimens taken from various angles aided their identification using field guides Subramanian 2009;Nair 2011). Specimens that were difficult to identify in the field were collected and preserved in 70% alcohol or acetone, and carried to the laboratory for further identification with the help of taxonomic keys (Fraser 1933(Fraser , 1934(Fraser , 1936Mitra 2002). All scientific names follow Kalkman et al. (2020). The species were categorized on the basis of number of sightings in the Jabalpur city as: VC very common (>100 sightings), C common (50-100 sightings), FC frequently common (15-50 sightings), R rare (2-15 sightings), VR very rare (<2 sightings) .

Study area
Jabalpur is one of the largest and the most crowded cities in Madhya Pradesh, located in the north-center region of India at 23.16°10'7.57''N & 79.93°55'54.64''E. It is situated on the Deccan Plateau at an altitude of 411 m and is surrounded on all sides by ancient basalt rocks and forests. Jabalpur consists of a long, narrow plain running from south-west to north-east flanked by the Bhanrer and Kaimur ranges of the Vindhyan system on the west and the various hills of the Mahadeo range and Maikal range on the east. The Bhitrigarh range and a few subsidiary hills intrude upon in the middle of the district and practically join the Vindhyan and the Satpura systems, which together form the great central watershed of India. It lies in the catchment of the longest river of central India, the Narmada, along with its tributaries, Hiran, Gour, Ken, and Sone. Jabalpur city is surrounded by low, rocky, and barren hillocks, which include Kariapathar hillock to the north-east, SitaPahad and Kandhari hills to the east and Madan Mahal hills to the south-west (Chandra 2008;Flora et al. 2020).
Jabalpur city has a humid subtropical climate, having three main seasons: June/July wet monson and its aftermath from June till October, the cool dry winter from October/November to February/March and the

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Seventy-five species of Odonata belongings to nine families were recorded. The present study adds 21 new species recorded for Jabalpur district, and four species for Madhya Pradesh. Of the total, 37% (28) species were abundant or very common, 19% (14) were common, 16% (12) were frequently common, 24% (18) rare and 4% (03) very rare (i.e., Aethriamanta brevipennis, Agriocnemis pieris, Caconeura ramburi). The observed and identified species, their status in and around of Jabalpur city are listed in Table 1.
During monsoon and post-monsoon seasons, Pantala flavescens is very abundant, as a result of mass emergence and migration. However, species like Aethriamanta brevipennis, Agriocnemis pieris, Caconeura ramburi, Onychargia atrocyana, Elattoneura nigerrima, Ictinogomphus angulosus, and Rhyothemis triangularis were rarely encountered. Abundance of Brachythemis contaminata, Orthetrum Sabina, and Diplacodes trivialis was high in contaminated water bodies. Species of Gomphidae, Macromiidae, Chlorocyphidae, and Platycnemididae were not found in contaminated water but found to occur in unpolluted Odonates are an indicator group and conservation activities must be acknowledged, especially for tropical odonates (Samways & Steytler 1996;Suhling et al. 2004). Zones in and around urban regions which consist of rivers, lakes, dams, rainwater puddles, marshes, urban parks, and gardens are excellent and rich sites of Odonata, and thus should be conserved and kept pollution free. Emerging urbanization affects odonate populations because of destruction and contamination of their natural habitats. Regions like the Narmada River and Bargi dam, which are home to large numbers of migratory birds, should be monitored and kept pollution free. Thorough analyses of their population in these habitats may act as role model for the evaluation of environmental health and quality. Observations from the present investigation may end up being significant as a reference for biodiversity managers in assessing changes in environmental conditions in the study area.
To conserve the suitable habitats of these ecologically important insects, public awareness is required. Anthropogenic activities (cutting logs, expansion of agricultural fields in lake surroundings), siltation, and eutrophication are among the major causes for increasing deterioration rate of the suitable habitats of odonates. However, presence of forest streams, waterfalls, rivers, lakes, and temporary & permanent flowing or still water bodies with dense shrubs & tree vegetations are most likely the major attractions for the Odonata. The observations recorded in the present study may prove valuable as a reference for assessing the changes due to the environmental conditions in the locality in the future.
The suborder Anisoptera was abundant in comparison to Zygoptera, and found in all the water bodies that were sampled. This corroborates the findings of earlier reports (Williams 1997;Lawler 2001;Suhling et al. 2004). Our findings agree with Keize & Kalkman (2009), who concluded that Coenagrionidae and Libellulidae are the dominant Odonata fauna in standing water worldwide.  studied the Odonata fauna of Nagpur city and observed that the Libellulidae dominated with 30 species followed by Coenagrionidae (16 species). In central India too, odonate fauna is mostly dominated by the Libellulidae and Coenagrionidae (Tiple & Chandra 2013). Andrew (2013) observed similar findings with the Odonata of Chatri Lake in Amravati and Zilpi Lake in Nagpur, respectively.  gave a detailed compilation of odonates of Vidarbha region of Maharashtra with 82 species under 47 genera and nine families, and revealed that the Libellulidae is the dominant one (38 species). The present study also corroborates this as Libellulidae (32 species), the most dominant, followed by Coenagrionidae. Tiple & Chandra (2013) reported 106 species of Odonata from Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh States. The present study on the Odonata of Jabalpur city revealed the presence of 75 species which account 71% of total species reported in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh States. The Jabalpur city and surrounding area seems to be having rich Odonate diversity of 75 varieties of species in small city area. Probably due to the presence of rivers (Narmada, Hiran, Gour, Ken, and Sone), lakes, and temporary & permanent flowing or still water bodies with dense shrub & tree vegetation a major attraction to the odonate species. The observations recorded in the present study supports the value of the Jabalpur city area in providing valuable resources for Odonata and it may prove as a reference for assessing the changes due to the environmental conditions in the locality in the future.

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