Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 August 2021 | 13(9): 19380–19382

 

ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893 (Print) 

https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.7536.13.9.19380-19382

#7536 | Received 26 June 2021 |  Finally accepted 01 August 2021

 

 

A new distribution record of the Western Ghats endemic damselfly Melanoneura bilineata Fraser, 1922 (Insecta: Odonata) from Maharashtra, India

 

Yogesh Koli 1 & Akshay Dalvi 2

 

1,2 Department of Zoology, Sant Rawool Maharaj College Kudal, Sindhudurg, Maharashtra 416520, India.

1 dryjkoli@gmail.com (corresponding author), 2 akshaydalvi123435@gmail.com

 

 

 

Editor: Ashish D. Tiple, Vidyabharati College, Seloo, Wardha, India.         Date of publication: 26 August 2021 (online & print)

 

Citation: Koli, Y. & A. Dalvi (2021). A new distribution record of Melanoneura bilineata Fraser, 1922 (Insecta: Odonata) from India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 13(9): 19380–19382. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.7536.13.9.19380-19382

 

Copyright: © Koli & Dalvi 2021. 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 authors declare no competing interests.

 

Acknowledgements: We would like to thank the Principal, Sant Rawool Maharaj College, Kudal for providing necessary facilities for this research. We are thankful to Dr. Dattaprasad Sawant for his valuable help in creating the QGIS Map. We are grateful to Mr. Pravin Sawant, Mr. Gurunath Kadam, Mr. Tejas Sawant, Miss. Mayuri Chavan for their kind help during the field work.

 

 

 

In India, the genus Melanoneura Fraser, 1922 is represented by only one species, i.e., M. bilineata Fraser, 1922.  It is categorised as ‘NearThreatened’on theIUCN Red List of Threatened Species (Subramanian 2011).  The very first time, Fraser (1924) described the type series collected from Coorg (Kodagu) and Malabar hills at an altitude of 900–1,300 m.  Subsequently, more observations were made from Kozhikode, Kannur, Peravoor, and Thiruvananthapuram (Subramanian 2011; Subramanian et al. 2018).  In this note, we report M. bilineata for thefirst time from Maharashtra, based on one male and one female specimen.

The work was started in September 2020 at Myristica swamp (15.8090N 74.1210E, 73m), Hevale village, Dodamarg taluka of Sindhudurg district (Image 3). Yogesh Koli (YK) and Akshay Dalvi (AD) first observed Melanoneura bilineata on 8.x.2020.  To confirm this genus, it was needed to check its wing venation and shape of caudal appendages (Image 1c,f).  Therefore, one male and one female specimen (Image 1a)were collected from this locality.  While sampling (8 October 2020), this region was not under legal protection, which was later in the exercise of the power conferred by sub-section (1) of section 37 of the biological diversity act 2002, the Government of Maharashtra, declared it as a world heritage site on 28 January 2021.  The specimens were preserved in 70% alcohol and deposited at Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), Pune (male: ZSI, WRC, Ent.4/2825; Female: ZSI, WRC, Ent.4/2826).  Photographs were taken usinga Canon 760D with a 100mm macro lens.  Species identification was carried outwith the help of a standard field guide (Fraser 1924, 1933).  Morphological terms refer to Garrison et al. (2010).The map used in Image 3 is created using a QGIS v3.10.2. Copula of M.bilineata (Image 1a) was found perching on vegetation along the water flow in myristica swamp.  This locality is spread up to 11,000m2 (2.70 acres), bordered by paddy fieldson one side and on the other side there’s aroad across which there is a rubber plantation.  This region is locally termed as ‘Kanhalachi Rai’.  The water flow in this swamp is from the northern to the southern side and the stream is partly diverted to paddy fields by local people for irrigation purposes.

Melanoneura Fraser, 1922 is a monotypic genus closely similar to Caconeura (Fraser 1922), Phylloneura (Selys 1860), and Esme (Fraser 1922).  The male individual shows the following characteristics (Image 1a–f): vertex andocciput black, shows a broad blue band across the base of the postclypeus.  Synthorax black with blue antehumeral stripe on each side of the mid dorsal carina.  Wings hyaline, Pt brownish-black and anal bridge is absent.  Abdomen marked with azure blue, S3–S6 have basal lunules over dorsum, S7 unmarked, S8–S10 blue with black stripe on lower half of lateral side.  Caudal appendages black, cerci directed straight back and then down, paraprocts broad at base and slightly curved at the tip.  Female (Image 1a): labium, labrum, and anteclypeus similar to the male in colour.  Synthorax black dorsally with yellowish-blue antehumeral stripes.  S3–S7 unmarked; S8 having azure blue vertical stripe on tergume.  This speciescan be easily distinguished by absence of anal bridge in its wing venation (Image1c)(Fraser 1924, 1933).  The genus Caconeura and Phylloneura haveincomplete anal bridge whereas genus Esme shows a complete anal bridge.  Apart from wing venation, the genus Melanoneura also differs bythe absence of blue marking on S7 and with a slight variation in lateral blue marking on S2.  Caudal appendages of all the above generaare quite similar in colouration, almost longer than S10 but distinguished by a slight variation in their shape.  Rather in Melanoeneura, the shape of the cerci is more like a ‘wrist and hand held in the attitude of clasping a ball’ (Fraser 1933).

The first record of M. bilineata from Maharashtra indicates that multiple observations are needed to study its distribution patterns in the entire Western Ghats.  Myristica swamp of Dodamarg (Shredharan & Indulkar 2018) is poorly known in terms of biodiversity aspects.  The presence of such infrequent species in this region signifies that the present locality still remains with many unreported species.  Therefore, more surveys are required to document faunal diversity of this region, in order to make various conservation action plans.

 

For images - - click here

 

 

References

 

Fraser, F.C. (1924). A survey of the Odonate (Dragonfly) fauna of Western India with special remarks on the genera Macromia and Idionyx and descriptions of thirty new species. Zoological Survey of India. Volumes (Records), 504–505pp.

Fraser, F.C. (1933). The Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma. Odonata. Vol. I. Taylor and Francis, London, 398pp.

Garrison, R.W., N. von Ellenrieder & J.A. Louton (2010). Damselfly genera of the New World: An Illustrated and Annotated Key to the Zygoptera. The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltmore, 490pp.

Sreedharan, G. & M. Indulkar (2018). New distributional record of the northernmost Myristica swamp from the Western Ghats of Maharashtra. Current Scince 115(8):  1434–1436.

Subramanian, K.A. (2011). Melanoneura bilineata. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2011: e.T175151A7114038.Downloaded on 18 August 2021. https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2011-1.RLTS.T175151A7114038.en

Subramanian, K.A., K.G. Emiliyamma, R. Babu, C. Radhakrishnan & S.S. Talmale (2018). Atlas of Odonata (Insecta) of the Western Ghats, India. Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata, 118pp.