Journal of Threatened Taxa |
www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 January 2021 | 13(1): 17548–17553
ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893
(Print)
https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.6307.13.1.17548-17553
#6307 | Received 16 June 2020 | Final
received 10 August 2020 | Finally accepted 27 December 2020
A note on the current
distribution of reedtail damselfly Protosticta rufostigma Kimmins, 1958 (Odonata: Zygoptera:
Platystictidae) from Western Ghats, and its addition
to the odonate checklist of Kerala
Kalesh Sadasivan
1 & Muhamed
Jafer Palot 2
1 TNHS Odonate
Research Group (TORG), Travancore Nature History Society (TNHS), MBRRA-65, Jyothis, Mathrubhumi Road, Vanchiyoor, Kerala 695035, India.
2 Zoological Survey of India,
Western Regional Centre, Rawet Road, Sector-29,
Vidyanagar, Akurdi, PCNT (PO), Pune, Maharashtra
411044, India.
1 kaleshs2002in@gmail.com
(corresponding author), 2 palot.zsi@gmail.com
Abstract: The genus Protosticta
(Odonata, Zygoptera, Platystictidae)
is represented by nine species in the Western Ghats of peninsular India, of
which seven are reported for the state of Kerala. Our recent records of Protosticta
rufostigma Kimmins,
1958 from the Western Ghats of Kerala State is discussed, and despite a
thorough literature search no collection records or photographs of the species
has been found after the original description from Tamil Nadu. The species is, thus, added to the checklist
of odonates of Kerala State. The description of the
live insect, its ecology, status and distribution is discussed.
Keywords: Agasthyamalai,
broad-leaved evergreen forests, Kakkayam, Malabar
Wildlife Sanctuary, Myristica swamps, Ponmudi, Ochlandra reed
brakes, rediscovery, western coast evergreen forest.
Editor: Raymond J. Andrew, Hislop
College, Nagpur, India. Date of publication:
26 January 2021 (online & print)
Citation: Sadasivan,
K. & M.J. Palot (2021). A note on the current
distribution of reedtail damselfly Protosticta rufostigma
Kimmins, 1958 (Odonata: Zygoptera:
Platystictidae) from Western Ghats, and its addition
to the odonate checklist of Kerala. Journal of Threatened Taxa 13(1): 17548–17553. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.6307.13.1.17548-17553
Copyright: © Sadasivan
& Palot 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: None.
Competing interests: The authors
declare no competing interests.
Acknowledgements: We thank the Kerala Forest
Department for research permits (WL10-4950) and logistical support. MJP is grateful to the director, Zoological
Survey of India, Kolkata for facilities and encouragement. We are grateful to Subramaninan KA, Vinayan Nair & Abraham Samuel for their comments on the
earlier drafts of the manuscript. We
thank Baiju. K and Manoj. K for their field
assistance. We are thankful to members
of Travancore Nature History Society (TNHS), Trivandrum and Malabar Natural
History Society (MNHS) Kozhikode for their support.
The genus Protosticta
Selys, 1885 consists of zygopterous
damselflies of small size and slender built commonly called Reed-tails or
Shadow-damsels, inhabiting hill streams of tropical, subtropical and southern
montane wet temperate sholas of southern India and forests of south east
Asia. In India, they are distributed in
the Western Ghats of peninsular India, parts of north-eastern India and Burma
(Fraser 1933; Emiliyamma & Palot
2016). The genus has 49 extant species (Schorr & Paulson 2020), distributed
from Pakistan, through Indian subcontinent to Indo-China and southeastern Asian Islands (van Tol
2000). There are 12 species of Protosticta in
India and of them nine inhabit Western Ghats of peninsular India. These are Protosticta
gravelyi Laidlaw, 1915, P. hearseyi Fraser, 1922, P. sanguinostigma Fraser, 1922, P. antelopoides Fraser, 1924, P. mortoni Fraser, 1924, P. davenporti Fraser, 1931, P. rufostigma Kimmins,
1958, P. ponmudiensis Kiran, Kalesh & Kunte, 2015, and P.
monticola Emiliyamma
& Palot, 2016 (Subramanian et al. 2018). Other species recorded within Indian limits
are P. himalaica Laidlaw, 1917, P.
fraseri Kennedy, 1936, and P. damacornu Terzani
& Carletti, 1998 (Fraser 1933; Kennedy 1936; Terzani, & Carletti 1998;
Subramanian, 2014; Kiran et al. 2015; Emiliyamma
& Palot 2016).
Of these, all except P. mortoni
and P. rufostigma had been recorded
from Kerala (Subramanian et al. 2018). P.
rufostigma was only known from its type
locality in Tinnevelly, Tamil Nadu (Kimmins 1958); and was likely to
occur in the hill streams with good riparian forest cover in Agasthyamalai Hills (Subramanian et al. 2018). No records of the species, however, had been
found after a search of peer-reviewed literature and the first confirmed records
for state of Kerala is provided here based on field records of the authors
since 2006.
Materials and Methods
The field data on odonates of the authors since 2000 from expeditions to
Western Ghats of Kerala State was analysed for this
work (full work will be published later).
Whenever possible the species photographs were taken with special
emphasis on the structure of prothorax and anal appendages of the insects. The morphological descriptions follow Fraser
(1933) and Garrison et al. (2006). The
central depression in the middle lobe of the prothorax is referred to as the
sulcus in the description below.
Measurements of specimens were taken using a vernier
caliper. Morphometrics of species are
based on specimens in NCBS (National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bengaluru,
India) collections. Images of the
holotype (NHMUK 01332477) and allotype (NHMUK 013324264) from Naraikadu, 2500–3000 ft, Tinnevelly
Dt, S.India, 3-8-X-1938, were referred from online
portals of the Natural History Museum London https://data.nhm.ac.uk/,
accessible at Natural History Museum (2014).
Dataset: Collection specimens.
Resource: Specimens. Natural History Museum Data Portal
(data.nhm.ac.uk). https://doi.org/10.5519/0002965, Retrieved: 06.15 23
July 2020 (GMT). Current distribution is
based on personal records and published literature. Unless specified, all the results including
locality records are of the authors.
Photographs of the specimens were taken with Canon (Canon Inc., Japan)
EOS 70D DSLR and 180mm macro lens. Taxonomy
of the group follows Fraser (1933). The
current taxonomic checklist for Kerala follows scientific names in Subramanian
& Babu (2017).
The current distribution of the odonates of
the Western Ghats region is based on Subramanian et al. (2018). Weather conditions were documented for the Agasthyamalai sightings of 2019 using Kestrel 5500 (Neilsen-Kelleran, USA).
Initials of the names of the authors are used in text below in
describing the details of field observation.
Results
Protosticta rufostigma
Kimmins, 1958
(Image 2&3)
Material examined
NCBS-BH878, male, vii.2014, brook
in a private estate, Ponmudi, Thiruvananthapuram,
Kerala, India; 800m, coll. Kalesh Sadasivan;
NCBS-BH879, male, vii.2014, stream side in a private estate, Ponmudi, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India; 700m,
coll. Kalesh Sadasivan.
Measurements
NHMUK 01332477 holotype male
abdomen 46mm, hindwing 23mm (Kimmins, 1958).
NHMUK 013324264 allotype female
abdomen 36mm, hindwing 22mm (Kimmins, 1958).
NCBS-BH878 male abdomen 49mm, hindwing
22mm.
NCBS-BH879 male abdomen 52mm, hindwing 23mm.
Historical distribution
The type locality is ‘Naraikadu in Tinnelvely (Thirunelveli) District Tamil Nadu 2500–3000 ft, September
1938’ (Kimmins 1958).
No other distribution records of the species are available.
Recently observed field records of Protosticta
rufostigma Kimmins,
1958 (not collected) and its current distribution:
All
observation are from the montane seepages and brooks of low to mid-elevation
evergreen forests of Western Ghats above 200m (Image 1).
Male; 1 January 2006; Kakkayam, Malabar Wildlife Sanctuary, Kozhikode District,
Kerala State, 709m (KS & MJP).
Female; 22 April 2012; Pandipathu, Peppara Wildlife
Sanctuary, Thiruvananthapuram District, Kerala State, 702m (KS) (Image 2C).
Male; 31 May 2013; Ponmudi-Kallar Valley, Thiruvananthapuram District, Kerala
State, 898m (KS). (Image 2D).
Male; 6 June 2013; Pandipathu, Peppara Wildlife
Sanctuary, ThiruvananthapuramDistrict, Kerala State,
695m (KS) (Image 2C). (Image 2B).
Male; 8 June 2013 Pandimotta in Shendurney in
Kollam District, Kerala State, 898m (KS) 900m Ochlandra
reed brake (KS) (Image 2A).
Male June 2, 2019; Ponmudi-Kallar Valley, Thiruvananthapuram District, Kerala
State, 196m (KS).
Male; June 2, 2019; Ponmudi-Kallar Valley, Thiruvananthapuram District, Kerala
State, 198m (KS).
Thus, all our records are from
Kerala part of the Western Ghats from Kakkayam in
Kozhikode District and Agasthyamalais of
Thiruvananthapuram District.
Description and field identification of males
The features that are consistent,
as per the original description of Kimmins (1958) are
as follows. The variations observed in
the species is mentioned separately below.
Head: labium is
brownish-black; labrum is light blue broadly bordered with brownish-black;
clypeus is pale blue. Frons: glossy
blue-black; vertex and occiput are dull black. Prothorax: greenish white, posterior lobe
blackish, this colour extending into the middle
lobe. Synthorax:
dark metallic green, with bluish-white oblique stripe on lateral thorax to mid
legs and similar one to the hindlegs behind it.
Legs: brownish-white. Abdomen:
black-brown, marked with yellow and blue; S1 and S3 laterally yellowish-white;
S3 narrow basal annulus yellowish-white, divided dorsally with black; S4-7
broader yellowish-white annuli, slightly widened laterally; S8 with basal half
blue, not extending apically at sides; 9 and 10 black. Anal Appendages: black, similar
to P. davenporti in general, but the
cerci with basal tooth less acute and the thumb-like process more slender; paraprocts in dorsal aspect a little stouter. Wings hyaline, faintly smoky; pterostigma
reddish-brown; 14 post nodals in FW, 13 in HW; Riv+v arising well distal to node. Female is similar to male, legs paler,
knees and dorsal carinae brown; abdomen marked in bluish-white instead of
yellowish-white; S7 annulus occupying the basal fourth.
Additional morphological and
taxonomic notes based on NCBS-BH878 and NCBS-BH879
Head: eyes in the live
insect are turquoise greenish-blue, capped dark brownish-black on the
posterosuperior aspect, pale blue below and more or less whitish behind. Vertex is dark metallic green with golden
shine; occiput and post ocular region black; Antennae are dark blackish-brown
(Image 3D). Prothorax: unarmed with no
spines or ornamentations to lobes, posterior lobe fully metallic black with
dark green reflux, middle lobe is pale bluish-white with lateral borders dirty
yellow; anterior lobe is pale brown with a central transverse triangular black
streak and a lateral bluish suffusion.
Sulcus of middle lobe of prothorax dark blackish-brown and this colour is confluent with the black of the posterior lobe
(Image 3B). Thorax: the ground colour is dark metallic green with scattered golden
sheen. The dorsal carina black; lateral
stripes may be very pale blush white to almost white. Coxae pale bluish. Trochanters white. Femora all dirty pale ashy brown with black
thick stripe on the extensor aspect.
Knees and extensor keels are black; tibia is brown and tarsus dark
brown. Claws are dark brown (Image
3B&C). Wings: venation with 1A
reaching the posterior wing margin after 5–6 cells in FW and 5–6 in HW; Post-nodals 13–14 in FW and 12–13 in HW; FW IR3
origin near origin of Px6 in FW and Px5 in HW (Image 3A). Abdomen: S8 with a complete basal annulus
occupying just a little lesser than half of the segment. The black of the dorsal carina on S8
encroaches into the band as a small convex intrusion from either side on the
dorsal midline. Length of S9 is a little
more than half of that of S8. Anal appendages (Image 3E&F). The external deviation of the cerci at the
tip seen in P. davenporti is not appreciable in P. rufostigma, where the outer border is
uniformly converging. Cerci with a basal
tooth pointing inwards; tip of the finger process is thickened; outer border of
cerci gradually converging and not sinuous, the thumb with a medial angulation,
a small tubercle before this angle and the tip tapering and spine like (Image
4). The paraprocts
bears a basal spine pointing inwards.
Females
Females were not collected, but
were observed in field and photographed.
The female from Agasthyamalai had darker
brownish legs, yellowish annuli, and lateral thoracic stripes (Image 2C).
Ecological notes
The species generally flies
during May–July, 200–1,200 m elevation in the Agasthyamalai
Hills in small brooks and seepages in evergreen forests, broad-leaved evergreen
forests, Myristica swamps, and Ochlandra reed brakes. It was also seen at elevation of 700m as
observed at Kakakyam in Malabar Wildlife Sanctuary on
01 January 2006, in the dry winter. It
always keeps to cooler and darker shady jungles and perches on overhanging
vegetation, branches of Ochlandra reeds, and Schumannianthus plants (Marantaceae)
in these marshes. The weather conditions
observed at the Agasthyamalai site was as follows:
temperature 26–280C, relative humidity 86–96% and no wind. The species shares it habitat with other odonates like Heliogomphus
promelas (Selys, 1873),
Hylaeothemis indica
Fraser, 1946, Idionyx travancorensis Fraser, 1931, Vestalis
submontana Fraser, 1934, Euphaea
cardinalis (Fraser, 1924), E. fraseri
(Laidlaw, 1920), Caconeura ramburi (Fraser, 1922), C. risi
(Fraser, 1931), Esme mudiensis Fraser,
1931, Melanoneura bilineata
Fraser, 1922, Indosticta deccanensis (Laidlaw, 1915), Protosticta
gravelyi Laidlaw, 1915, and P. ponmudiensis Kiran et al., 2015.
Discussion
This paper confirms the presence
of Protosticta rufostigma
Kimmins, 1958, from the Western Ghats of Kerala,
thus adding it to the checklist of odonates of
Kerala. The species is similar to P.
davenporti Fraser, 1931, but may be distinguished
by the larger pterostigma, pattern of prothorax, S8 and the structure of the
male cerci. Though the pterostigma is
similar to that of P. sanguinostigma
Fraser, 1922, the anal appendages are very different from it, as the latter has
a prominent dorsal spine on the cerci.
The original description of the species was based on specimens deposited
in the Natural History Museum, London.
So the colours on the live insect were not
mentioned in the description by Kimmins (1958). Here an additional description of the insect
is provided based on live individuals.
The dark bottle green colour of the eyes are
diagnostic of the species, along with the characteristic anal appendages of
males. As per our field experience the
species is not uncommon in the Agasthyamalais in
suitable habitats. Given the
similarities of the species in morphology and ecology, it can be considered
closely related to P. davenporti of Anamalais,
in the Agasthyamalais. It is to be also noted that despite best
efforts P. davenporti has not been
recorded by us until now in the Agasthyamalais,
though recorded in Kerala from the Anamalais (Fraser
1933; Subramanian et al. 2018).
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