Journal of Threatened Taxa |
www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 February 2020 | 12(3): 15391–15394
ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893
(Print)
doi: https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.5138.12.3.15391-15394
#5138 | Received 31 May 2019 | Final received
22 January 2020 | Finally accepted 02 February 2020
Additions to the Odonata (Insecta) fauna of Asansol-Durgapur Industrial Area, West
Bengal, India
Amar Kumar Nayak
Searsole Junior Basic School, Searsole Rajbari, Paschim Bardhaman, West Bengal 713358, India
amarnayak.stat@gmail.com
Editor: K.A. Subramanian, Zoological
Survey of India, Chennai, India. Date of publication:
26 February 2020 (online & print)
Citation: Nayak, A.K. (2020). Additions to the Odonata (Insecta) fauna of Asansol-Durgapur Industrial Area, West
Bengal, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 12(3): 15391–15394. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.5138.12.3.15391-15394
Copyright: © Nayak 2020. Creative Commons Attribution
4.0 International License. JoTT allows unrestricted use, reproduction, and
distribution of this article in any medium by providing adequate credit to the
author(s) and the source of publication.
Funding: Self-funded.
Competing interests: The author
declares no competing interests.
Acknowledgements: The author thankfully
acknowledges the kind help and co-operation extended by Dr. K.A. Subramanian,
scientist, Zoological Survey of India, Chennai, Dr. Ashish Tiple,
faculty, Zoology Department, RTM Nagpur University and the members of Dragonfly
India group. The author is thankful to Subhajit Roy for his continuous field support during the
entire study period. The author is
thankful to Prosenjit Dawn, Arajush
Payra and Aaratrik Pal for
identification help and also wants to acknowledge Dipanjan
Ghosh and Kalyan Mukherjee for their constant motivation in writing this
manuscript.
To examine the
diversity, occurrence and distribution pattern of dragonflies and damselflies
(Odonata) from the selected study sites of Asansol-Durgapur industrial area of
Paschim Bardhaman District of West Bengal, India an
investigation was conducted by A.K. Nayak from January 2012 to December
2015. A combination of direct search and
opportunistic sighting methods was applied to record odonate
species (38 dragonflies and 19 damselflies) from the varied region of the study
area. On the basis of this study, the
first work on the Odonata fauna of Asansol–Durgapur Industrial Area by Nayak
& Roy (2016) was reported. The aim
of the present study is to update the checklist of Odonata fauna of
Asansol-Durgapur Industrial Area.
Study area
The present study conducted
at all the same study points along with two new study sites Kalyaneshwari
Temple, Asansol & Kumarmangalam Park, Durgapur
situated at Asansol-Durgapur area (23.689–23.520 0N &
86.966–87.312 0E), an important industrial urban zone of Paschim Bardhaman District of West Bengal, India (Figure 1). The six odonates
are found from six different study points.
The details of 13 study points are given in Table 1.
Data collection: A
combination of direct search technique (Sutherland 1996) and opportunistic
sighting methods were applied during the present study (January 2016 to
September 2019) to record odonate diversity and
abundance. Observations were made by
covering each study site twice a month involving different habitat types of odonates. During
each sampling, efforts were made to enlist the encounter frequencies of
different odonates from different sampling
sites. The identification of odonates was done following Fraser (1933, 1934, 1936), Mitra (2006), Subramanian (2005, 2009, 2014), Nair (2011)
and Babu et al. (2019). Nikon D5300 DSLR camera and Nikkor 70–300mm VR lens were used for photo documentation
of the odonates.
A total of six different
odonate species that involved both dragonflies (Anisoptera) and damselflies (Zygoptera)
were recorded during the present study which was represented by six genera from
four families. Among those reported
families, one was represented by damselflies (Zygoptera),
viz., Lestidae (one species and one genus). The rest of the three families were
represented by dragonflies (Anisoptera), viz., Aeshnidae (one species and one genus), Gomphidae
(two species and two genera), and Libellulidae (two
species and two genera). The species Gomphidia leonorae Mitra, 1994 is reported for the second time from India in
this paper and the range extended from Susunia Hill,
Bankura, West Bengal, India (23.3950N, 86.9870E) to Durgapur Barrage, Paschim Bardhaman, West Bengal, India (23.4750N, 87.3020E). A detailed account of findings on the six
species found during the present study (January 2016–September 2019) is given
below:
Suborder: Anisoptera
Family: Aeshnidae
1. Anax
ephippiger (Burmeister, 1839)
31.viii.2019, Study Site
– S2 (Image 1), Least Concern (Subramanian 2016)
Comment: Only one female
species was found from the study area.
The species was hovering over a paddy field and the flight was very
agile. This species is not commonly seen
in southern part of West Bengal.
Family: Gomphidae
2. Gomphidia
leonorae (Mitra,
1994)
30.v.2017, Study Site –
S4 (Image 2), Data Deficient (Sharma 2010)
Comment: Only one adult
female of the species was known from Susunia Hill (Mitra et al. 1994).
This time also a female species was found from a bushy river side area
of Damodar at Durgapur Barrage, West Bengal.
3. Macrogomphus
montanus (Selys,
1869)
26.vii.2014, Study Site
– S1 (Image 3), Data Deficient (Subramanian 2010)
Comment: This species is
not very common in southern Bengal and the author recorded it for the first
time from the study area and another species from the same genus Macrogomphus annulatus was
found in the same study site in 2014.
This species was found under a shrub near the shade of a big tree.
Family: Libellulidae
4. Orthetrum
taeniolatum (Schneider, 1845)
17.iv.2019, Study Site –
S13 (Image 4), Least Concern (Mitra 2013)
Comment: The species was
found basking on a rock near a small stream.
The day was too hot and the species was followed by various common
species of the same genus. It is not very
commonly seen in the study area.
5. Trithemis
aurora (Burmeister, 1839)
19.iii.2017, Study Site
– S9 (Image 5), Least Concern (Subramanian & Dow 2010)
Comment: The species was
found in the dense area of Gunjan Ecological Park situated at Asansol. This species is common in West Bengal. The species likes shaded bushy areas.
Suborder: Zygoptera
Family: Lestidae
6. Lestes
viridulus (Rambur, 1842)
22.xii.2017, Study Site
– S12 (Image 6), Least Concern (Dow 2010)
Comment: The species is
common and prefers to live under dense bushes and shaded area. The species was found from the new study site
and this study site reported high Odonata diversity
With the addition of
these six new records, the total number of odonates
stand at 63. Out of these six species, Gomphidia leonorae Mitra, 1994 is a very important finding and the author is
further involved in searching for the male.
Considering the previous study of odonates
(recorded 57 species) from the same study area, the present species count is
surely an underestimation. The author
strongly believes that sustained and co-ordinated
efforts are necessary for documenting the odonate
diversity of the entire state. This is
possible through networking between the amateurs and professional
researchers. Furthermore, since odonates are considered as biological indicator species, it
is necessary that long-term monitoring needs to be taken up for major water
bodies in the study sites as well as in the state. Future investigations covering more study
areas will certainly enrich our knowledge and understanding of odonate diversity and ecology from this important
industrial region.
Table 1. Brief description of the
selected study sites including geo–coordinates and habitat types.
Location (study site) |
Latitude (N) |
Longitude (E) |
Habitat type |
S1 – Dubchururia
Village |
23.578° |
87.228° |
Remnants of dry deciduous
forests with more than 20 large water bodies. |
S2 – Andal Old Aerodrome |
23.588° |
87.230° |
Open grassland and agricultural
land with a slow flowing perennial stream. |
S3 – Searsole
Junior Basic School |
23.630° |
87.109° |
Planted trees with four large
water bodies surrounded by agriculture land. |
S4 – Durgapur Barrage |
23.475° |
87.302° |
Wetland dependent mixed
vegetation with a perennial river. |
S5 – Nimcha
Village |
23.638° |
87.089° |
Remnants of dry deciduous
forests with eight large water bodies, interspaced with agricultural land. |
S6 – Nimcha
Coal Mine area |
23.636° |
87.093° |
Mixed forest with a slow
flowing perennial stream and open coal pits. |
S7 – Gopalmath
Rail colony |
23.569° |
87.229° |
Open grassland and agricultural
land with more than 10 large water bodies. |
S8 – Nehru Park |
23.634° |
86.947° |
Remnants of dry deciduous
forests with a slow flowing perennial stream and a river. |
S9 – Gunjan Ecological Park |
23.664° |
87.028° |
Wetland dependent mixed
vegetation with a large water body. |
S10 – Ambuja
Wetland |
23.540° |
87.306° |
Wetland dependent mixed
vegetation with a large water body. |
S11 – Rana Pratap, A–Zone,
Durgapur |
23.601° |
87.295° |
Remnants of dry deciduous
forests with a slow flowing perennial stream. |
S12 – Mohan Kumarmangalam
Park, B-Zone, Durgapur |
23.564° |
87.301° |
Wetland dependent mixed
vegetation with a large water body. |
S13 – Kalyaneshwari
Temple, Asansol |
23.777° |
86.829° |
The study area situated beside
the temple and the habitat is remnants of dry deciduous forests with a slow
flowing perennial stream. |
For
figure & images - - click here
References
Babu, R. & K.A. Subramanian (2019). A new species of Gomphidia Selys, 1854 (Insecta: Odonata: Anisoptera: Gomphidae) from the
Western Ghats of India. Zootaxa 4652(1):
155–164. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4652.1.9
Dow,
R.A. (2010). Lestes viridulus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened
Species 2010: e.T167318A6328220. Downloaded on 17 February 2020. https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2010-4.RLTS.T167318A6328220.en
Fraser,
F.C. (1933). Fauna of British
India Odonata 1. Taylor and
Francis Ltd. London, 423pp.
Fraser,
F.C. (1934). Fauna of British
India Odonata 2. Taylor and
Francis Ltd. London, 398pp.
Fraser,
F.C. (1936). Fauna of British India Odonata 3. Taylor and Francis Ltd. London, 461pp.
Mitra, T.R. (1994). Observation on the habits and habitats of adult
dragonflies of eastern. India with special reference to the fauna of West
Bengal. Records of the Zoological Survey of India, Occasional Paper 166: 40.
Mitra, T.R. (2006). Handbook of Common Indian Dragonflies (Insecta: Odonata). Zoological Survey of India, Calcutta, 124pp.
Mitra, A. (2013). Orthetrum taeniolatum. The IUCN Red List of Threatened
Species 2013: e.T165506A17533964. Downloaded on 17 February
2020. https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T165506A17533964.en
Nair,
M.V. (2011). Dragonflies
& Damselflies of Orissa and Eastern India. Wildlife Organisation,
Forest & Environment Department, Government of Orissa, 254pp.
Nayak,
A.K. & U.S. Roy (2016). An
observation on the Odonata fauna of the Asansol-Durgapur Industrial Area,
Burdwan, West Bengal, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 8(2): 8503–8517.
https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.2572.8.2.8503-8517
Sharma, G. (2010). Gomphidia leonorae. The IUCN Red List of Threatened
Species 2010: e.T169152A6573644. Downloaded on 17 February 2020. https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2010-4.RLTS.T169152A6573644.en
Subramanian, K.A. (2005). Dragonflies
and Damselflies of Peninsular India: A Field Guide. Project Lifescape, Indian
Academy of Science, Bangalore, India, 118pp.
Subramanian, K.A. (2009). A Checklist of Odonata of India. Zoological Survey of India, 36pp.
Subramanian, K.A. (2010). Macrogomphus montanus. The IUCN Red List of
Threatened Species 2010:
e.T167301A6325747. Downloaded on 17 February 2020. https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2010-4.RLTS.T167301A6325747.en
Subramanian,
K.A. (2014). A checklist of
Odonata (Insecta) of India. Zoological Survey of
India, Kolkata, 31pp.
Subramanian,
K.A. (2016). Anax ephippiger. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016:
e.T59811A72310087. Downloaded on 15 February 2020. https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T59811A72310087.en
Subramanian,
K.A. & R.A. Dow (2010). Trithemis aurora. The
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2010: e.T167395A6341159. Downloaded
on 17 February 2020. https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2010-4.RLTS.T167395A6341159.en
Sutherland, W.J. (1996). Ecological Census
Techniques. University Press, Cambridge, 200pp.