Journal of Threatened
Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 February 2022 | 14(2): 20648–20653
ISSN 0974-7907
(Online) | ISSN 0974-7893 (Print)
https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.7672.14.2.20648-20653
#7672 | Received 22
September 2021 | Final received 13 January 2022 | Finally accepted 27 January
2022
New records of odonates (Insecta: Odonata), Archibasis oscillans Selys, 1877 and Merogomphus
tamaracherriensis Fraser, 1931 from Maharashtra,
India
Akshay Dalvi 1 & Yogesh Koli 2
1,2 Department of Zoology, Sant Rawool Maharaj College Kudal,
Sindhudurg, Maharashtra 416520, India.
1 asdalvi25@gmail.com, 2 dryjkoli@gmail.com
(corresponding author)
Editor: Ashish D. Tiple, Vidyabharati college,
Wardha, India. Date of publication:
26 February 2022 (online & print)
Citation: Dalvi, A. & Y. Koli (2022). New records of odonates (Insecta: Odonata), Archibasis
oscillans Selys, 1877
and Merogomphus tamaracherriensis
Fraser, 1931 from Maharashtra, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 14(2): 20648–20653. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.7672.14.2.20648-20653
Copyright: © Dalvi & Koli 2022. 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 principal, Sant Rawool Maharaj College, Kudal for
providing necessary facilities for this research work; Dr.
Dattaprasad Sawant for his valuable help during the
manuscript writing; Mr. Amol Kambali for providing
the photograph of a female Merogomphus tamaracherriensis; and Mr. Gurunath
Kadam, Mr. Pravin Sawant, Mr. Tejas Sawant, &
Miss. Mayuri Chavan for their kind help during field work.
Abstract: Archibasis oscillans
Selys, 1877 is
reported for the first time from Maharashtra, India; and first record of Merogomphus tamaracherriensis
Fraser, 1931, based on photographic evidence taken from Sindhudurg,
Maharashtra. We report the range extension of both the species in the northern
Western Ghats.
Keywords: Kalse
stream, Kudal taluka, photographic evidence,
Sindhudurg.
The genus Archibasis
Kirby, 1890 is distributed from India to northern Australia including Sri
Lanka, southeastern Asia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands (Connif & Bedjanic 2013). Archibasis
oscillans Selys, 1877
is the only species currently known from India (Subramanian et al. 2018; Kalkman et. al 2020). Initially, this species was described
as A. mimetes praeclara by
Fraser, 1933. Later it was revised by Lieftinck
(1949) as A. oscillans. Including this,
Lieftinck (1949) listed six more species, which
included A. incisura Lieftinck, 1949, A. melanocyana Selys, 1877, A.
mimetes Tillyard, 1913,
A. tenella Lieftinck,
1949, and A. viola Lieftinck, 1948 (Conniff
& M. Bedjanič 2013). A few years later, A. rebeccae was described by Kemp (1989). Recently in
2013, A. lieftincki and A. oscillans hanwellanensis was
described by Conniff & M. Bedjanič (2013).
Genus Merogomphus
comprises a total of 11 species worldwide which includes M. chaoi Yang & Davies, 1993, M. femoralis Laidlaw, 1931, M. parvus
Kruger, 1899, M. pavici Martin, 1904, M. tamdaoensis Karube, 2001, M.
torpens Needham, 1930, M. vandykei
Neddham, 1930, and M. vespertinus
Chao, 1999. Among these, Fraser (1933) introduced three species from India, M.
longistigma, Fraser 1922, M. tamaracherriensis Fraser, 1931, and M. martini
Laidlaw, 1930. Recently, Kosterin (2016) rearranged
the species M. martini and described a new combination Euthygomphus martini (Kalkman
et al. 2020). However, only two Western Ghats endemic species of this genus
have been currently known from India (Kalkman et al.
2020).
Till date various worker surveys Odonate fauna of Maharashtra and succeeded to enlist about
134 species (Kulkarni et al. 2012; Tiple et al. 2013;
Tiple & Koparde
2015). In this paper we report the first
record of A. oscillans and new distributional
record of M. Tamaracherriensis from
Maharashtra.
Material and Methods
In July 2021, Akshay
Dalvi (Hereafter AD) first observed and photographed Archibasis
oscillans at Kalse
stream (16.024N & 73.601E), situated in Kudal
taluka, Sindhudurg, Maharashtra. The specimen was preserved in 70% alcohol and
deposited at the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), Pune. At the same time in
July 2021, Amol Kambli first observed and
photographed a female of Merogomphus tamaracherriensis at Varavde,
Kankavali, Sindhudurg district (16.268N &
73.677E). In August 2021, an additional field record of a male was taken by AD
at Bambarde, Dodamarg
taluka and successively at Koloshi, Devgad taluka, on 08 October 2021. All the field
photographs were taken using Canon 760D camera and 100 mm micro. Microscopic
photos of A. oscillans male were taken using
model LM-52-3621 at Shivaji University, Kolhapur. The
morphological characters of the collected specimen matched with that of the
male specimen described earlier by Fraser (1933, 1934). Morphological
terms refer to Garrison et al. (2006).
Map used in Image 5 is created using QGIS v3.10.2.
Archibasis oscillans
Selys, 1877 (Image 1 & 2)
Material examined: Ent.4/2934, 12.viii.2021, male, Kalse, Kudal Taluka, Sindhudurg
District, Maharashtra, India (16.024N & 73.601E), Akshay
Dalvi leg.
Brief description of male (Image
1, 2)
Description: Head (Image 1a–d): Labium,
labrum, base of mandibles pale blue; postclypeus blue
with two small broad black circles joined each other, two triangular blue postocular spots connected with a thin blue band; eyes
black above and blue beneath. Thorax: prothorax (Image 1d) blue with a
combination of broad black bands making an ‘M’ shape structure at the middle
lobe; synthorax (Image 1c,d) broadly black on dorsum
with azure blue ante humeral stripes. Wings (Image 1f, g): hyaline, 10
to 15 post nodal nervures in the fore wing. Abdomen (Image 1a,e):
segment 1 entirely blue, segment 2 black on dorsum and blue laterally, segment
3 to 6 black on dorsum and yellowish on sides, last three segments entirely
blue with black apical ring. Caudal appendages (Image 2a,b): black,
superiors as long as segment 10, apical notch at the tip, inferiors two-third
the length of superiors.
Diagnosis: Diagnostic characters are based
on available literature (Fraser 1933; Connif & Bedjanic 2013) and after comparing our specimen with the
original description and photographic evidence available on the website
‘Odonata of India’. This genus can be easily differentiated from Pseudagrion Selys,
1876 by following characters: (i) Pterostigma almost
square and slightly convex (Image 1f) in Archibasis
Kirby, 1890 and rectangular in shape, longer than broad in Pseudagrion; (ii) 8 to 15 postnodal
nervures in Pseudagrion whereas Archibasis have 10 to 13 post nodal nervures;
(iii) Archibasis has distinct blue colouration with black markings and species included in the
genus Pseudagrion are found in various colours like red, blue, orange and green with black
markings; (iv) Superior anal appendages in Archibasis
are shorter with tiny apical notch
(Image 2b) whereas in the case of Pseudagrion,
they are longer and deeply notched (Image 2d).
It can be distinguished from A.
melanocyana by: (i)
Inferior two thirds the length of superior in A. oscillans
whereas inferiors are less than half of superior in A. melanocyana; (ii) In case of A. Melanocyana,
inferiors have a small spine on the inner side which is absent in A. oscillans. However, the markings on the head, synthorax, and abdomen (Image 1a,e) appear to be more or
less the same among these two species. A. oscillansis morphologically very similar in
comparison with the original description of A. oscillans
hanwellaanensis Conniff & Bedjanič,
2013 and A. lieftincki Conniff & Bedjanič, 2013. The tip of superior anal appendages in A.
oscillansis
flat hollow and curved inwards (Image 2a) which is similar with A. lieftincki. Two main differences that distinguish A.
lieftincki from A. oscillans
are: (i) They have considerably expanded flap-like
superiors which is never seen in case of A. oscillans;
(ii) Also, inferiors are less than half of superiors which are the same as in
the case of A. melanocyana whereas A. oscillans have inferiors two thirds of the length of
the superior. A. viola Lieftinck, 1948 and A.
rebeccae Kemp, 1989 can also be distinguished
from the A. oscillans by their distinct violet
colour and clubbed cerci, respectively.
Distribution (Image 5a,b): The previous western limit
of this species was confined to Coorg, South Kanara, southern Malabar, and
parts of the Wynaad (Fraser, 1933) (Image 5a). Further records of this species were taken by
iNaturalist from several other locations in Kerala,
Karnataka as well as Goa (Image 5b). Our records extend the range of this
species further north. Apart from
India, this species is also found in Indonesia, Lao People’s Democratic
Republic, Sri Lanka, and Thailand (Subramanian et al. 2018).
Habitat (Image 4a): This species was found in a small
seasonal stream in Kalse village, Sindhudurg
district. This locality is situated close to the Karli River, surrounded by
paddy fields and wetland. Five to six males were found near small shrubs
adjacent to this stream.
Merogomphus tamaracherriensis
Fraser, 1931
(Image 3)
Material examined: Male, 25.viii.2021, Bambarde, Dodamarg, (16.268N,
73.677E); male, 8.x.2021, Koloshi, Devgad (16.384N, 73.625E); female, 29.vii.2021, Varavade, Kankavali (16.024N,
73.601E).
Brief description of male
(Image3a–d)
Head (Image 3b): Eyes
apple green; labium, labrum, and occiput entirely black; broad yellow stripe
above frons. Thorax (Image 3a): prothorax black with yellow marking, synthorax (Image 3a) black with yellow antihumeral
stripes running along the dorsal carina. Mesepimeron
and Metepimeron with broad yellow stripes with thin
yellow line on metepisternum. Abdomen (Image
3a): segment 1 to 3 with broad yellow stripe on dorsum and quadrate or
triangular spot-on lateral, Segment 4 to 6 with no mid dorsal spot. Segment 7
has its basal half broadly yellow; segment 8 with small diamond shaped spot-on
dorsal side; segment 9 to 10 unmarked. Caudal appendages (Image 3d):
cerci milky white pointed at the tip with finely distributed black hairs,
curled like the horns of a bull; base slopes sharply away from the inner side;
Female (Image 3c): very similar
to the male as far as head, thorax and abdominal colour
pattern. Abdomen is broader at the base and shorter as compared to the male.
Anal appendages simple, white, and pointed.
Diagnosis: Fraser initially described this
species as a subspecies of Merogomphus longistigma in 1931. Later he revised it in 1953 as
advised by D.E. Kimmans (Fraser 1953). Following
diagnostic characters are based on Fraser 1934 and specimens that we observed
during the survey. M. tamaracherriensis can be
distinguished by M. longistigma by following
characters: (i) Occiput entirely black, while
greenish-yellow in M. longistigma, (ii) Mid
dorsal spot-on segment 3 is isolated and absent on segment 3 to 6 in M. tamaracherriensis, present in others, (iii) A
diamond-shaped yellow spot appears on segment 8, no marking is seen on segment
9 and 10, whereas in M. longistigma only mid
dorsal carina appears on segments 8 to 10, (iv) Lateral spine of cerci is more
pointed than M. longistigma and base sharply
away on the inner side, while depressed for the distal half and apices turn
sharply upwards in others.
Habitat (Image 4b,c,d): This species prefers slow moving
streams, marshy land or riverside habitat. Female of this species firstly
observed near the riverside area in Varavade village Kankavli. This region is surrounded by seasonal flowing
streams with tree canopy and small patches of paddy field surrounding it. First
male record of this species was taken in Bambarde
village, Dodamarg. This particular locality is
surrounded by Myristica swamp on one side and paddy
fields on the other. More records were also taken from Koloshi
stream, Devgad. It is a seasonal stream surrounding
the tree canopy and grassland at the edges.
Male specimen was found resting on vegetation along the stream and small
rocky areas between the stream.
Distribution (Image 5a,c): Earlier records were limited to
parts of Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu. These records extend the
distribution range of this species to the further north.
Discussion: We recorded two odonate species from northern Western Ghats, both are in
addition to the Odonata fauna of Maharashtra. The presence of Archibasis oscillans
in northern Western Ghats is not quite surprising as it was already reported
near Goa in recent years (Subramanian et al. 2018). This study area was never
surveyed before by any means and surprisingly this species was found in a human
disturbed area. More surveys will surely reveal the actual geographical
distribution of this cryptic species in northern Western Ghats.
M. tamaracherriensis is a Western Ghats endemic
species whose earlier records were confined to southern parts of the Western
Ghats only. For the first time since then, a female and successively a male
were found in Sindhudurg district, Maharashtra. The male of this species was
found just outside the Myristica swamp, Dodamarg. The government of Maharashtra has already
declared this region as a Biodiversity heritage site in the year 2021 which
would definitely help protect such infrequent species. Many new records and
newly described odonata species from Sindhudurg
district greatly signify the true potential of this region (Joshi & Sawant
2019, 2020; Koli & Dalvi 2021; Koli et al. 2021). Coastal regions including the Sindhudurg
and Ratnagiri district harbor many wetlands, small seasonal streams and water
bodies on rocky plateaus. Exclusive surveys of these habitats may reveal many
new observations, therefore more work has to be done to study the diversity of odonates in the entire northern Western Ghats.
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