Dragonflies and damselflies ( Insecta : Odonata ) of Chhattisgarh , India

The present study on the Odonata (Insecta) of Chhattisgarh, India, documents eighty-five species including thirteen new records to the state. Three species — Cyclogomphus heterostylus Selys, 1854, Macrogomphus seductus Fraser, 1926 (Gomphidae) and Zygonyx iris iris Selys, 1869 (Libellulidae) — are recorded for the first time from central India. The paper discusses the geographical and habitat-wise distribution of Odonata of Chhattisgarh. DOI: 10.15560/10.5.1104 Figure 1. Map of Chhattisgarh showing the study area.


Introduction
The order Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies), comprising three suborders Anisoptera, Anisozygoptera and Zygoptera are one of ancient group of Insects.Within India, 463 species belonging to 140 genera have been recorded representing 8% of the world known species (Subramanian 2009).The larvae and adults are predatory and very important biocontrol agents for insect pests (Khaliq 2002).Moreover, studies across the world have shown that they are good indicators of ecosystem health and ideal surrogate taxa for identifying freshwater biodiversity hotspots for conservation (Hart et al. 2014).
Odonata diversity is quite known from the Central India; however the information on protected areas and districts of Chhattisgarh was scanty.This survey was carried out from 2011-2013 in different districts and protected areas in different seasons to assess the Odonata diversity of this state.Previous studies on Odonate fauna of this state were partly done along with few protected areas and districts of Madhya Pradesh from which Chhattisgarh was carved out in 2000.Mitra (1995) recorded 22 species of Odonata from Indravati Tiger Reserve, Bastar.Prasad (1996) reported 66 species of Odonates from Bastar district.Mishra (2007) documented 70 species from Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh which was updated to 106 species recently (Tiple and Chandra, 2013).This present paper deals with the Odonata specimens collected, observed and studied during survey of few Districts and Protected areas of Chhattisgarh.

Materials and Methods
The present study was carried out in connection with the projects entitled "Faunal Diversity of Protected Areas of Chhattisgarh" and "District-Wise Faunal Diversity of Chhattisgarh" funded by Chhattisgarh, CAMPA, Govt. of India.The survey was done through extensive collection of Odonata specimens, direct observation and photographic record in 8 districts and 6 protected areas (Table 1) of Chhattisgarh from June, 2011 to May, 2013 (Figure 1).

Results
The present study conducted in 8 districts and 6 protected areas of Chhattisgarh, revealed the identification of 68 Odonata species belonging to 44 genera and 10 families, among which 13 species representing 12 genera are newly recorded from the state (Table 3) including 3 species, viz., Cyclogomphus heterostylus Selys, 1854, Macrogomphus seductus Fraser, 1926 (Gomphidae) and Zygonyx iris iris Selys, 1869 (Libellulidae) new records to the Central India.This study resulted in listing the Odonata fauna of this state represented by 85 species belonging to 49 genera and 10 families (Table 2) which are more than 18% of the Indian fauna.Among the recorded species family Libellulidae is most dominant in number having 35 individuals and least are the Macromiidae and Protoneuridae with only one species each (Figure 2).Among the districts surveyed Bastar hosts the maximum number of species studied, followed by Surguja and Kabirdham and least number of species were studied from Jashpur and Raipur (Figure 3).

Discussion
Chhattisgarh is the most forested state of India having 44% land under forest cover.

Figure 1 .
Figure 1.Map of Chhattisgarh showing the study area.
There are four major forest types, namely Tropical Moist Deciduous, Tropical Dry Deciduous, Tropical Thorn and Subtropical Broadleaf Hill Forests.Forests are largely distributed in the north and in the southern parts of the State.Teak and Sal are the two most important forest formations of the State (Nag 2007).During monsoon the odonates were abundant in flooded crop-fields, grasslands and swamps, but as most part of the state endures a very hot summer, crop-fields and number of wetlands dry up except for a few large ponds and streams.Libellulidae and Coenagrionidae were most abundant families to be found in almost every habitat.Good populations of Lestes umbrinus Selys, 1891 and Lestes viridulus Rambur, 1842 (both family Lestidae) were seen in grasslands beside water bodies; Copera vittata Selys, 1863 and Copera marginipes (Rambur, 1842) (both family Platycnemididae) were mainly found near shaded forest streams.In the dry summer, few aeshnids, namely Anax immaculifrons Rambur, 1842 and Gynacantha byadera
Figure 2. Chart showing number of Odonata species from different families identified during the study.Figure 3. Chart showing number of species recorded from different districts and protected areas of Chhattisgarh.Selys, 1891, and calopterygids, namely Vestalis apicalis Selys, 1873 and Vestalis gracilis (Rambur, 1842), were seen to concentrate near the small waterholes and small rocky streams inside forests.Few individuals of family Chlorocyphidae, namely Rhinocypha bisignata Hagen in Selys, 1853 and Libellago lineata (Burmeister, 1839), were also found near rocky streams.The list of species reported from different habitats such as grassland and paddy fields near water bodies (I), Ponds and swamps of villages (II), Deep forests (III), Waterholes inside forest (IV), rocky and shaded forest streams (V) and rocky riverbeds (VI) are included in the Table2.Further study of both the larval and adult stages in the remote areas in the forests and rocky streams may enrich the species list.

Table 2 .
List of Odonata recorded from Chhattisgarh (+ indicates species reported herein; * indicates species recorded from literature and the citations beside the species indicate the respective literatures.).

Table 2 .
List of Odonata recorded from Chhattisgarh ( + indicates species reported herein; * indicates species recorded from literature).

Table 3 .
Odonata species reported new to the fauna of Chhattisgarh (* indicates new records to Central India).