Range extension and larval habitat of Lyriothemis tricolor Ris, 1919 (Odonata: Anisoptera: Libellulidae) from southern Western Ghats, India

Range extension of Lestes nodalis Selys, 1891 (Odonata: Zygoptera: Lestidae) in southern India

“…Our present observations from Kozhikode District is the first report for Kerala and extends the range of distribution of the species to southern India, over hundreds of kilometers further south of its present distribution range in the northeastern or eastern India. Interestingly, in the last couple of years two of the northeastern species, viz., Lyriothemis acigastra (Selys) (Emiliyamma et al 2012) and L. tricolor Ris (Das et al 2013) were also reported from Kerala. These new records indicate that the region is rich in Odonata fauna and has to be further explored very seriously.…”

A note on the ecology and distribution of Little Bloodtail Lyriothemis acigastra Brauer, 1868 (Insecta: Odonata: Libellulidae) in Kerala, India

“…Lyriothemis species were thought to be restricted to the northeastern parts of the country, but in 2013, L. acigastra and L. tricolor were recorded from the southern state of Kerala. L. tricolor was found to breed in the tree holes of evergreen and semievergreen forests in the southern Western Ghats (Das et al 2013). Not much is known about the behaviour and ecology of L. acigastra (Emiliyamma et al 2013).…”

Notes on the oviposition behaviour of three Elattoneura damselflies from India (Odonata: Platycnemididae)

“…Selection of suitable habitat and oviposition sites is a crucial part of the reproductive cycle of odonates as this affects egg survival ( Corbet 1962: 1–2). While the eggs are typically laid either endophytically or exophytically in lentic or lotic freshwater ecosystems, oviposition sites other than open water bodies include microhabitats such as damp soil ( Subramanian 2009: 4), phytotelmata ( Orr 1994; Nishadh & Das 2012; Das et al 2013), dead stems above water ( Corbet 1999: 18), submerged aquatic vegetation ( Corbet 1999: 17; Mujumdar et al 2018), and wet moss bed besides the waterfall ( Dawn 2019). Many Anisoptera oviposit exophytically by directly releasing eggs into the water, whereas all Zygoptera and most aeshnids perform the characteristic endophytic oviposition by inserting the eggs into submerged or floating aquatic vegetation or inside loose decaying plant material in the waterbody ( Suhling et al 2015: 912).…”