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Atlas of Odonata (Insecta) of the Western Ghats, India K.A. Subramanian, K.G. Emiliyamma, R. Babu, A C. Radhakrishnan & S.S. Talmale t l a os f to h f e WO e sd t eo r nn Ga ht aa t s( , I I nn d s i ae c t a ) ZSI ZOOLOGICAL SURVEY OF INDIA 2018 Atlas of Odonata (Insecta) of the Western Ghats, India K.A. Subramanian1, K.G. Emiliyamma2, R. Babu1, C. Radhakrishnan2 & S.S. Talmale3 1 Southern Regional Centre, Zoological Survey of India, Chennai 2 Western Ghats Regional Centre, Zoological Survey of India, Kozhikode 3 Central Zone Regional Centre, Zoological Survey of India, Jabalpur ZOOLOGICAL SURVEY OF INDIA Kolkata CITATION Subramanian, K.A., Emiliyamma, K.G., Babu, R., Radhakrishnan, C. & Talmale, S.S., 2018. Atlas of Odonata (Insecta) of the Western Ghats: 1-417. (Published by the Director, Zool. Surv. India, Kolkata) Published: March, 2018 ISBN – 978-81-8171-495-4 Front Cover: Macrogomphus annulatus (Photo: G. Sankaran) Back Cover: Western Ghats: Aerial view of Wyanad and Nilgiris (Photo: K.A. Subramanian) ©Government of India, 2018 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED * No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher. * This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise disposed of without the publisher's consent, in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published. * The correct price of this publication is the price printed on this page. Any revised price indicated by a rubber stamp or by a sticker or by any other means is incorrect and should be unacceptable. PRICE Indian: ` 2180/- Foreign: $ 100; £ 65 95 Published at the Publication Division by the Director, Zoological Survey of India, M-Block, New Alipore, Kolkata-700 053; Printed at Shiva Offset Press, Dehradun - 248001 Contents Introduction .......................................................................................1 Odonata of the Western Ghats ...........................................................5 Methods ..............................................................................................8 Results .................................................................................................8 Conclusions ......................................................................................22 Geographic Distribution of species .................................................31 Lestidae .............................................................................31 Platystictidae......................................................................49 Calopterygidae...................................................................65 Chlorocyphidae .................................................................73 Euphaeidae ........................................................................81 Platycnemididae ................................................................91 Coenagrionidae ...............................................................129 Aeshnidae ........................................................................181 Gomphidae .....................................................................201 Chlorogomphidae ............................................................253 Synthemistidae ................................................................259 Macromiidae ...................................................................279 Corduliidae......................................................................297 Libellulidae ......................................................................301 Acknowledgements .........................................................................405 References .......................................................................................405 iii Periyar River, Thattekkad, Kerala Introduction The Western Ghats (WG), also known by the name ‘The Sahyadris’, constitute a 1600 km long mountain chain along the west coast of India, originating from south of the Tapti River (near the border of Gujarat and Maharashtra), and extending upto Kanyakumari, at the southernmost tip of the Indian peninsula (between 21o N to 8o N latitude) (Map-01). Covering an area of about 1,60,000 sq. km, the Ghats traverses the six states viz., Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The northern hills with an average elevation of 1,220m are generally lower and gentler than the southern hills; the taller parts of the hill ranges. Anaimudi peak rising to a height of 2,695 metres (8,842 feets), at the southern part of the range, towards the Anaimalai Hills in Tamil Nadu and Kerala is the highest peak in WG as well as in Peninsular India. The 2637 m high Doddabetta, Nilgiris in Tamil Nadu is ranked the second highest peak in WG. The lower parts of the ghats experience a humid and tropical type of climate and the elevated regions have a more temperate climate. The western side of the WG is on the threshold of southwest monsoon and receives very high rainfall, while the eastern side lies in the rain shadow area of the peninsula. The massive mountain chain is interrupted by a few gaps/passes, the most prominent one being the Palghat gap, at the Tamil Nadu/Kerala border n a n h Kris hi n u K E. High altitude stream, Eravikulam NP, Kerala 1 Subramanian, K.A., Emiliyamma, K.G., Babu, R., Radhakrishnan, C. & Talmale, S.S. 2 Atlas of Odonata (Insecta) of the Western Ghats, India Zool. Surv. India Map 01: Physiography of the Western Ghats. 3 Subramanian, K.A., Emiliyamma, K.G., Babu, R., Radhakrishnan, C. & Talmale, S.S. between the Nilgiri Hills and the Anaimalai Hills. The gap is 32 km at its widest and 13 km at it’s narrowest. The southern part of the WG harbours the Nilgiri Hills (the word Nilgiri mean “Blue Mountains”) which is the meeting point of the Western with Eastern Ghats. The narrow coastal plain between the WG and the Arabian Sea is known as the n Konkan Coast in the north and a ni a the Malabar Coast in the south. m a br The Western Ghats, an area Su of rich biodiversity and also A. K. exhibiting high degrees of Hill Stream, Kudremukh NP, Karnataka endemism, comprises the major portion of the Western Ghats - Sri Lanka Hotspot, one of the 34 global biodiversity hotspots for conservation by the Conservation International (Myers et al., 2000). The area is also one of the world’s eight “Hottest biodiversity hotspots”. Of the Global 200 priority ecoregions of World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), Southern western Ghats Moist Forests and Western Ghats Rivers and Streams fall under the Critically Endangered Category (http://worldwildlife.org). n a ni a m a br u S A. K. Weed Covered Lake, Karnataka 4 Atlas of Odonata (Insecta) of the Western Ghats, India Zool. Surv. India In the present study, distribution maps of all known species from the Western Ghats region were prepared and their distribution patterns analysed using GIS tools. This study demonstrates the use of GIS tools in identification of geographic regions for conservation and future surveys. Odonata of the Western Ghats The odonate fauna of the n a ni Western Ghats is well known a m taxonomically. Taxonomy of bra u adults is well worked out and S A. descriptions are available for K. all the reported species (Davis Suttinabbi Water Falls, KMNP, Karnataka and Tobin, 1984, 1985; Fraser, 1918 to 1936 (including Fauna of British India- Odonata, Volume I, II & III), 1938, 1939, 1946, 1953; Kimmins, 1958; Laidlaw, 1915, 1916, 1917ab, 1919, 1920, 1922, 1924, 1925, 1930; Lieftinck, 1960; Mitra, 1994; Navas, 1930, 1934; Prasad and Varshney, 1995; Tyagi, 1997). Later on, diversity of odonate fauna of the Western Ghats were documented based on the field studies by scientists of Zoological Survey n a ni a m a br u S A. K. Paddy Field at Kambam, Theni Dt., Tamil Nadu 5