Protosticta monticola

Protosticta monticola,[1][2] monticola reedtail,[3] is a damselfly species in the family Platystictidae. It is endemic to southern Western Ghats in India.[4] The species is named monticola (mountain dweller) considering the natural habitat where the species was discovered.[2][3]

Protosticta monticola
male
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Class:
Insecta
Order:
Odonata
Family:
Platystictidae
Genus:
Protosticta
Species:
P. monticola
Binomial name
Protosticta monticola
Emiliyamma & Palot, 2016

The genus Protosticta has eleven species reported from India, of which nine are known from Western Ghats.[5][6]

This species was first found in 2014 in high altitudes (above 1600m) of the Anaimalai Hills of Idukki district, Kerala, southern Western Ghats. The study found the presence of this species in highland shola forest ecosystems of Kambilipparachola and Nagamalachola of Marayur forest division and Mathikettan Shola National Park. The males were found away from the forest streams, in shaded areas among the shola forest undergrowth at Kambilipparachola. A few females and males were also found frequenting the sides of streams covered with forest canopy near Nagamalachola in Marayur forests. A few female specimens were found in a forest stream inside the shola forest. Other species observed with them were Euphaea cardinalis and Esme cyaneovittata. This is the only species found within the high altitude shola forests of the southern Western Ghats.[2]

This is one of the small-sized Protosticta like Protosticta hearseyi. This species can be distinguished from other Protosticta species based on the completely black dorsal surface of its abdomen, 7th and 8th abdominal segments without yellow or blue color dorsally, and its distinct anal appendages.[2]

  • female
  • Teneral male
  • Head (male)
  • Anal appendages (male)
  • Genitalia (male)
  • Wings (male)

See also
  • List of odonates of India
  • List of odonata of Kerala

References
  1. Martin Schorr; Dennis Paulson. "World Odonata List". University of Puget Sound. Retrieved 12 Oct 2018.
  2. Emiliyamma, K.G. & M. J. Palot (2016). "A new species of Protosticta Selys, 1885 (Odonata: Zygoptera: Platystictidae) from Western Ghats, Kerala, India". Journal of Threatened Taxa. 8 (14): 9648–9652. doi:10.11609/jott.3226.8.14.9648-9652. Retrieved 2017-03-14.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link) This article contains quotations from this source, which is available under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license.
  3. "New damselfly species identified". The Hindu. Retrieved 2017-03-14.
  4. K.A., Subramanian; K.G., Emiliyamma; R., Babu; C., Radhakrishnan; S.S., Talmale (2018). Atlas of Odonata (Insecta) of the Western Ghats, India. Zoological Survey of India. pp. 58–59. ISBN 9788181714954.
  5. C FC Lt. Fraser (1933). The Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma, Odonata Vol. I. Red Lion Court, Fleet Street, London: Taylor and Francis.
  6. Subramanian, K. A. (2005). Dragonflies and Damselflies of Peninsular India - A Field Guide.

Data related to Protosticta monticola at Wikispecies

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