The final instar larva of Calicnemia eximia (Selys, 1863) is described for the first time from a grass-bed under a waterfall in Buxa Tiger Reserve, Dooars of Darjeeling Himalayas. The larva shows a semi terrestrial nature like other congeneres but is unique in having no premental setae and a longer labium. One C. miniata (Selys, 1886) larva was also collected from the same locality and is compared with the C. eximia larva here.
Survey were conducted seasonally mainly in pre-monsoon (January to May) and monsoon (June to September). Specimens were collected using butterfly net and by handpicking. Collected specimens were killed by gently pressing the thorax and kept dry in insect envelope and processed for preservation and identification. The collected specimens were examined under Leica EZ4 HD Binocular Microscope and Leica Stereo Zoom Microscope (Leica M205A). Smaller damselfly specimens were examined and kept in 70% ethanol after identification. Species were identified following keys of Fraser (1933, 1934, 1936) and Mitra (2002). Identified specimens were deposited in National Zoological Collections of Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata.
A new species Cephalaeschna patrai sp. nov. is described from Neora Valley National Park, Darjeeling Himalays as the eighth species of the genus from India. This new species is characterized by bright green markings on overall black body color, black is replaced with brown in female. Anterolateral thoracic stripe separated in two patches connected with a narrow line. The cerci are uniformly broad towards end, without any constriction in the lateral view; tip of the same prominently curved upwards to form blunt tubercle which appears to be projected inwards in the dorsal view. An updated key for all the Indian species is provided here. A short note about the affinities among congenerics distributed across Himalayas (particularly C. acanthifrons Joshi & Kunte, 2017 and C. viridifrons (Fraser, 1922)) is also included.
The Indian Elattoneura are a difficult group to identify due to their extreme morphological similarity and sparse information in identification keys and on geographical distribution. The ambiguity is prominent among two Peninsular Indian Elattoneura species, E. nigerrima (Laidlaw, 1917) and E. tetrica (Laidlaw, 1917), described a hundred years ago. Both species were described based on male specimens with scant information on their females. The species are IUCN Red-listed, E. nigerrima (Data Deficient) and E. tetrica (Least Concern). Hitherto it was thought that E. nigerrima was smaller than E. tetrica and both have non-overlapping geographical distribution. Here, we re-described both sexes of E. nigerrima; E. tetrica along with morphometric data and geospatial analysis. We found that E. nigerrima is significantly larger than E. tetrica. The species are largely allopatric in distribution, with the former having a much wider spatial distribution than previously thought. Based on our geospatial analysis, we provide occurrence data useful for the future IUCN assessments of E. nigerrima and E. tetrica. We highlight the importance of updating taxonomic status information and data on spatiotemporal distribution to proceed with the conservation of endemic insects such as Elattoneura damselflies. Our study indicates reassessments of Indian Odonata species are urgently needed.
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