Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 December 2018 | 10(15): 12969–12978

 

 

Odonata (Insecta) diversity of Kuldiha Wildlife Sanctuary and its adjoining areas, Odisha, eastern India

 

Subrat Debata ¹ & Kedar Kumar Swain 2

 

1 Aranya Foundation, Plot No-625/12, Mars Villa, Panchasakha Nagar, Dumduma, Bhubaneswar, Odisha 751019, India

2 Office of the Divisional Forest Officer, Chandaka Wildlife Division, Gaja Vihar, Bhubaneswar, Odisha 751003, India

1 subrat.debata007@gmail.com (corresponding author), 2 kedarswain28@gmail.com

 

 

 

Abstract: A study was carried out to assess the Odonata fauna of Kuldiha Wildlife Sanctuary, Odisha, eastern India from November 2012 to October 2013.  During the study a total of 54 species of odonates including 37 species of dragonflies (Anisoptera) and 17 species of damselflies (Zygoptera) were recorded.  Among the dragonflies, the family Libellulidae was well represented with 30 species whereas among the damselflies, Coenagrionidae was well represented with seven species.  Overall, the odonate fauna of Kuldiha Wildlife Sanctuary accounted for 49.09% of the odonate species known from Odisha and 10.73% of India.  Therefore, further long-term studies on these lesser-known insect fauna in Kuldiha Wildlife Sanctuary will be useful in understanding their status over time.

 

Keywords: Anisoptera, Coenagrionidae, damselflies, dragonflies, Libellulidae, Zygoptera.

 

 

 

 

doi: https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.3463.10.15.12969-12978  |  ZooBank: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:57B7ABD1-A0FA-4BAF-A7D4-24121B224CC6

 

Editor: K.A. Subramanian, Zoological Survey of India, Chennai, India.            Date of publication: 26 December 2018 (online & print)

 

Manuscript details: Ms # 3463 | Received 24 March 2017 | Final received 13 December 2018 | Finally accepted 16 December 2018

 

Citation: Debata, S. & K.K. Swain (2018). Odonata (Insecta) diversity of Kuldiha Wildlife Sanctuary and its adjoining areas, Odisha, eastern India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 10(15): 12969–12978; https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.3463.10.15.12969-12978

 

Copyright: © Debata & Swain 2018. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. JoTT allows unrestricted use of this article in any medium, reproduction and distribution by providing adequate credit to the authors and the source of publication.

 

Funding: None.

 

Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

 

Author Details: Subrat Debata is a wildlife researcher and naturalist with special interest on small mammals and waterbirds. Kedar Kumar Swain is presently working as Divisional Forest Officer in Chandaka Wildlife Division, Forest and Environment Department, Government of Odisha.

 

Author Contribution: Both the authors contributed equally in field work. SD designed and wrote the paper.

 

Acknowledgements: We are thankful to the Forest Range Officers of Kuldiha Wildlife Range and Soro Wildlife Range of Balasore Wildlife Division for the logistics and other field support during the study.  We are thankful to Udit Pratap Das and Arajush Payra for allowing us to use some of their photographs.

 

 

 

Introduction

 

The order Odonata comprising both dragonflies and damselflies are believed to have evolved some 250 million years ago (Subramanian 2005).  These aquatic insects being predators in both larval and adult stages are an important and widespread component of freshwater ecosystems (Adarsh et al. 2015) as well as valuable indicators of water quality and landscape disturbance (Watson et al. 1982; Castella 1987; Varghese et al. 2014).  Globally around 5,952 species of odonates have been described; of which 503 species have been reported within the geographic limits of India so far (Joshi et al. 2017).

Odisha is one of the eastern coastal states of India and being situated along the amalgamation zone of Chhotanagpur Plateau, Eastern Ghats Highlands, Lower Gangetic Plain and the Eastern Coastal Plain’s biogeographic provinces (Ray 2005), represents a mixture of both Indo-Malayan and Afro-Mediterranean biodiversity elements (Das et al. 2015).  Odonata research in Odisha dates back to the early 1900s when Laidlaw (1915) and Fraser & Dover (1922) studied the faunal diversity of Chilika Lake.  Afterwards, as part of faunal expeditions, several collections were made from different parts of Odisha and the results of 58 species were documented in the state fauna series (Srivastava & Das 1987).  Some of the recent published works from Odisha include: Mitra (2000) who reported 69 species of odonates throughout Odisha; Sethy & Siddiqi (2007) reported 16 species from Simlipal Biosphere Reserve; Das et al. (2010, 2011) reported 31 species from Baripada Forest Division, 26 species from Nandankanan Zoological Park and 58 species within the buffer area of Simlipal Tiger Reserve, respectively; Nair (2011) reported 110 species throughout Odisha and eastern India and 92 species from Simlipal Biosphere Reserve; Debata et al. (2013) reported 55 species from Hadgarh Wildlife Sanctuary; Payra et al. (2014) reported 56 species from Athagarh Forest Division;  Sajan & Mohapatra (2014) reported the occurrence of Lesser Blue Wing (Rhyothemis triangularis Kirby, 1889) in Odisha from Kotgarh Wildlife Sanctuary and recently Pandey & Mohapatra (2017) reported 24 species from the Regional Institute of Education campus, Bhubaneswar.  The vital information on diversity and distribution of odonates, however, is still missing from different parts of Odisha.  Moreover, the increasing biotic pressure, deforestation and disappearance of wetlands are becoming major threats to odonates today.  Therefore, documentation of Odonata  from different geographic regions and habitats of Odisha is crucial for establishing baseline data for future comparison (Nair 2011).  In this study, we summarize our findings of odonate fauna of Kuldiha Wildlife Sanctuary (KWS) in Odisha.

 

 

Materials and Methods

 

Study Area

The KWS (Fig. 1) is situated along the tropic zone between 21.333–21.5000N and 86.500–86.7500E covering an area of 272.75km2 in northern Odisha region.  The landscape is characterized by undulating terrain and altitude ranges between 169–682 m.  The climate is seasonal, with summer season between March to June, monsoon (July–October) and winter (November–February).  The area receives an annual average rainfall of 1,460mm from the south-west monsoon and the temperatures range from 8°C in December to 42°C in June. Vegetation is mostly mixed deciduous type (Champion & Seth 1968).  There are numerous perennial and seasonal hill streams and water bodies in and around KWS, which are habitats prefered by odonates.

 

Methods

While carrying out a biodiversity survey in KWS from November 2012 to October 2013, odonates were observed along hill streams, water bodies and temporary water logged areas.  Whenever a species was encountered, its close up photographs were taken and later identified following the keys provided by Subramanian (2009) and Nair (2011); however, the species with confirmed identification were only taken under consideration for the checklist.  The taxonomy and nomenclature of all the identified species followed Subramanian (2014).  Based on the encounter rate of different species, we categorized them into five different groups such as very common (species encountered during 81–100 % of the survey days), common (61–80 %), occasional (41–60 %), rare (20–41 %) and very rare (less than 20%).  To understand the significant difference in species richness between different months and seasons, a Chi-square test (χ²) was performed.

 

 

Results and Discussion

 

During the survey, 54 species of odonates (Images 1–53) including 37 species of Anisoptera (dragonflies) and 17 species of Zygoptera (damselflies) were recorded from KWS (Table 1).  In Anisoptera, the family Libellulidae was well represented by 31 species followed by Aeshnidae and Gomphidae (3 species each). Likewise, in Zygoptera Coenagrionidae was dominated by seven species followed by Calopterygidae and Protoneuridae (3 species each), Chlorocyphidae (2 species), and Platycnemididae and Lestidae with a single species each (Fig. 2).  Our observations on family wise species richness are more or less similar with the earlier studies from different protected areas of Odisha (Sethy & Siddiqi 2007; Das et al. 2011; Nair 2011; Debata et al. 2013) and elsewhere in India (Varghese et al. 2014; Adarsh et al. 2015).

During the study period, a maximum of 51 species were encountered during the months of April and a minimum of 12 species during the month of January (Fig. 3) and the observed species richness varied significantly between the months (χ² = 80.49, df = 11, p < 0.05).  Similarly during seasonal analysis, a maximum of 51 species were recorded during  summer and a minimum of 16 during  monsoon (Fig. 3) and it also varied significantly between the seasons (χ² = 18.76, df = 2, p < 0.05).  In terms of species encounter rate, a majority of 16 species were found to be occasional followed by 15 species as very common, 13 species as common, nine species as rare and one species as very rare (Table 1; Fig. 4).  Species like Ictinogomphus rapex and Paragomphus lineatus were more commonly sighted inside the sanctuary indicating unpolluted water sources and good habitat quality where as Brachythemis contaminata was frequently sighted at the peripheral zones indicating presence of polluted water within anthropogenic habitats (Nair 2011).  Referring to IUCN Red List classification, 45 species from our study area are classified under Least Concern and one species under Data Deficient categories (Table 1).  The rest of the species have not yet been assessed.

Although KWS represents around 0.17 % of the total geographic area and 3.31 % of the total protected areas network of Odisha, it contributes around 49.09 % of the Odonata species richness of the state and 10.73 % of India.  Yet, the present study gives a preliminary observation on Odonata fauna of KWS as part of multi taxa inventory.  Therefore, more detailed and targeted long term studies on these lesser-known insect fauna will be useful in understanding their status and monitoring the change over time in the study area.

 

 

References

 

Adarsh, C.K., R. Arunraj & P.O. Nameer (2015). Odonata (Insecta) diversity of Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary, the southern Western Ghats, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 7(2): 6910–6919; https://doi.org/10.11609/JoTT.o3771.6910-9

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Champion, H.G. & S.K. Seth (1968). The Forest Types of India. Government of India Press, Nasik, India, 404pp.

Das, P.K., P.P. Mohapatra & A.K. Biswal (2015). Glimpses of Biodiversity of Odisha. Odisha

Biodiversity Board, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India, 84pp.

Das, S.K., H.K. Sahu & S.D. Rout (2010). Odonates of Baripada Division of Simlipal Biosphere Reserve, including North Orissa University Campus, Orissa, India. Tiger Paper 37(2): 13–15.

Das, S.K., B. Baruah, N. Dash, S. Singhnaik & H.K. Sahu (2011). Diversity of Odonates in Nandankanan Zoological Park with range extension notes of White Dartlet (Agriocnemis pieris) in Orissa, India. Tiger Paper 38(2): 29–32

Debata, S., H.K. Sahu, S.D. Rout & R.K. Mishra (2013). An observation on Odonata diversity in Hadgarh Wildlife Sanctuary, Odisha, India. Tiger Paper 40(2): 10–13.

Fraser, F.C. & C. Dover (1922). The fauna of island in Chilika Lake - Dragonflies. Records of the Indian Museum 24(3): 303–311.

Joshi, S., P. Koparde, K.A. Subramanian & P. Roy (eds.) (2017). Odonata of India, v. 1.00. Indian Foundation for Butterflies. http:// http://www.indianodonata.org/. Electronic version accessed 22 April 2017.

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Pandey, P. & A.K. Mohapatra (2017). Diversity of two families Libellulidae and Coenagrionidae (Odonata) in Regional Institute of Education Campus, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 9(2): 9851–9857; https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.2547.9.2.9851-9857

Payra, A., S.K. Dash, A.K. Mishra, H.S. Palei, R.K. Mishra & S.D. Rout (2014). A preliminary study on Odonata (Dragonfly and Damselfly) diversity in Athagarh forest division, Odisha, India. e-planet 12(2): 43–49.

Ray, G.C. (2005). Geography of Orissa. Kitab Mahal, Cuttack, 308pp.

Sajan, S.K. & P.P. Mohapatra (2014). New Record of Lesser Blue Wing Rhyothemis triangularis Kirby, 1889 (Odonata: Libellulidae) from Odisha, India. Journal of Bombay Natural History Society 111(1): 60; https://doi.org/10.17087/bnhs/2014/v11i1/56544

Sethy, P.G.S & S.Z. Siddiqui (2007). Observations on Odonates in Simlipal Biosphere Reserve, Orissa. Zoos’ Print Journal 22(11): 2893–2894.

Srivastava, V.K. & S. Das (1987). Insecta: Odonata, pp. 135–159. In: Director (ed.). Fauna of Orissa. State Fauna Series 1 (Part 1). Zoological Survey of India Publication, Calcutta, India.

Subramanian, K.A. (2005). Dragonflies and Damselflies of Peninsular India- A Field Guide. 1st Edition. Project Lifescape Series. Indian Academy of Science, Bangaore, 118pp.

Subramanian, K.A. (2009). India- A Lifescape, Dragonflies of India - A Field Guide. Vigyan Prasar, India Offset Press, New Delhi, 180pp.

Subramanian, K.A. (2014). A Checklist of Odonata of India. Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata, 31pp.

Varghese, A.P., P.R. Nikesh & J. Mathew (2014). Odonata (Insecta) diversity of Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary and its adjacent areas in Thattekkad, Kerala, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 6(6): 5887–5893; https://doi.org/10.11609/JoTT.o3395.5887-93 

Watson, J.A.L., A.H. Arthington & D.L. Conrick (1982). Effect of sewage effluent on dragonflies (Odonata) of Bulimba Creek, Brisbane. Australian Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research 33: 517–528; https://doi.org/10.1071/MF9820517

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Table 1. Checklist of odonates recorded in Kuldiha Wildlife Sanctuary, Odisha during November 2012 to October 2013

 

 

Sub Order / Family / Scientific name

Common name

Image number

Season

Abundance

IUCN status

Sub Order: Anisoptera (Dragonflies)

Family: Aeshnidae (Darners)

Anax guttatus (Burmeister, 1839)

Blue-tailed Green Darner

1

S, M

O

LC

Gynacantha bayadera Selys, 1891

Parakeet Darner

2

S, M

R

LC

Gynacantha dravida Lieftinck, 1960

Brown Darner

3

M

C

DD

Family: Gomphidae (Clubtails)

Ictinogomphus rapex (Rambur, 1842)

Common Club Tail

4

S, M, W

C

NA

Macrogomphus annulatulus (Selys, 1854)

Deccan Bow Tail

5

S, M

R

NA

Paragomphus lineatus (Selys, 1850)

Common hook Tail

6

S, M

O

LC

Family: Libellulidae (Skimmers)

Acisoma panorpoides Rambur, 1842

Trumpet Tail

7

S, M

C

LC

Brachydiplax sobrina (Rambur, 1842)

Little Blue Marsh Hawk

8

S, M

VC

LC

Brachythemis contaminata (Fabricius, 1793)

Ditch Jewel

9

S, M, W

VC

LC

Bradynopyga geminate (Rambur, 1842)

Granite Ghost

10

S, M, W

C

NA

Crocothemis servilia (Drury, 1770)

Ruddy Marsh Skimmer

11

S, M, W

O

LC

Diplacodes nebulosa (Fabricius, 1793)

Black-tipped ground Skimmer

12

S, M

O

LC

Diplocodes trivialis (Rambur, 1842)

Ground Skimmer

13

S, M, W

VC

NA

Lathrecista asiatica (Fabricius, 1798)

Asiatic Bloodtail

14

S

R

LC

Neurothemis fulvia (Drury, 1773)

Fulvus Forest Skimmer

15

S, M

VC

LC

Neurothemis intermedia (Rambur, 1842)

Ruddy Meadow Skimmer

16

S, M, W

O

LC

Neurothemis tullia (Drury, 1773)

Pied Paddy Skimmer

17

S, M, W

R

LC

Orthetrum glaucaum (Brauer, 1865)

Blue Marsh Hawk

18

S

R

NA

Orthetrum luzonicum (Brauer, 1868)

Tricoloured Marsh Hawk

19

S

R

LC

Orthetrum pruinosum (Burmeister, 1839)

Crimson Tailed Marsh Hawk

20

S, M, W

VC

LC

Orthetrum sabina (Drury, 1770)

Green Marsh Hawk

21

S, M, W

VC

LC

Orthetrum taeniolatum (Schneider, 1845)

Taeniolata Marsh Hawk

22

S

VC

LC

Orthetrum triangulare (Selys, 1878)

Blue tailed forest Hawk

23

S, M

O

LC

Palpopleura sexmaculata (Fabricius, 1787)

Blue Tailed Yellow Skimmer

24

S

O

LC

Pantala flavescens (Fabricius, 1798)

Wandering Glider

25

S, M, W

VC

LC

Potamarcha congener (Rambur, 1842)

Yellow-tailed Ashy Skimmer

26

S, M

C

LC

Rhodothemis rufa (Rambur, 1842)

Rufous Marsh Glider

27

S, M, W

O

LC

Rhyothemis variegata (Linnaeus, 1763)

Common Picture Wing

28

S, M, W

VC

LC

Tetrathemis platyptera Selys, 1878

Pygmy Skimmer

29

S, M

R

LC

Tholymis tillarga (Fabricius, 1798)

Coral-tailed Cloud Wing

30

S, M

VR

LC

Tramea basilaris (Palisot de Beauvois, 1805)

Red Marsh Trotter

31

M

O

LC

Tramea limbata (Desjardins, 1832)

Black Marsh Trotter

32

S, M

C

LC

Trithemis aurora (Burmeister, 1839)

Crimson Marsh Glider

33

S, M, W

C

LC

Trithemis festiva (Rambur, 1842)

Black Stream Glider

34

S, M

VC

LC

Trithemis pallidinervis (Kirby, 1889)

Long-legged Marsh Glider

35

S, M

C

LC

Urothemis signata (Rambur, 1842)

Greater Crimson Glider

36

S, M

O

LC

Zyxomma petiolatum Rambur, 1842

Brown Dusk Hawk

 

S, M

VC

LC

Sub Order: Zygoptera (Damselflies)

Family: Calopterygridae (Glories)

Neurobasis chinensis (Linnaeus, 1758)

Stream Glory

37

S, M

O

LC

Vestalis apicais Selys, 1873

Black-tipped Forest Glory

38

S, M

O

NA

Vestalis gracilis (Rambur, 1842)

Clear-winged Forest Glory

39

S

C

LC

Family: Chlorocyphidae (Stream Jewels)

Libellago lineata (Burmeister, 1839)

River Helioder

40

S

R

LC

Rhinocypha bisignata Hagen in Selys, 1853

Stream Ruby

41

S, M

C

LC

Family: Coenagrionidae (Marsh Darts)

Agriocnemis lecteola Selys, 1877

Milky Dartlet

42

S, M

VC

NA

Agriocnemis pygmaea (Rambur, 1842)

Pygmy Dartlet

43

S, M, W

VC

LC

Amphiallagma parvum (Selys, 1876)

Azure Dartlet

44

S, M

O

LC

Ceriagrion coromandelium (Fabricius, 1798)

Coromandel Marshdart

45

S, M, W

VC

NA

Ischnura aurora (Brauer, 1865)

Golden Dartlet

46

S, M, W

C

LC

Pseudagrion decorum (Rambur, 1842)

Three lined Dart

47

S

R

LC

Pseudagrion rubriceps Selys, 1876

Saffron Faced Blue Dart

48

S

C

LC

Family: Lestidae (Spread Wings)

Lestes viridulus Rambur, 1842

Emerald Striped Spreadwing

49

M

O

LC

Family: Platycnemididae (Bush Darts)

Copera vittata Selys, 1863

Blue Bush Dart

50

S, M

O

LC

Family: Protoneuridae (Bamboo Tails)

Caconeura ramburi (Fraser, 1922)

Coorg Bambootail

51

S, M

VC

DD

Disparoneura quadrimaculata (Rambur, 1842)

Black-winged Bambootail

52

S, M

O

LC

Prodasineura verticalis (Selys, 1860)

Black Bambootail

53

S, M

C

LC

 

 

S - Summer; M - Monsoon; W - Winter; VC - Very Common; C - Common; O - Occasional; R - Rare; VR - Very Rare; LC - Least Concern; DD - Data Deficient;

NT - Near Threatened; NA - Not Assessed