First records of Macromia katae ( Macromiidae ) and Indothemis carnatica ( Libellulidae ) from Vietnam ( Insecta : Odonata )

In the course of two field trips to Northern Vietnam during March 2012 and June 2014 the dragonflies and damselflies of three National Parks (Cuc Phuong, Tam Dao, and Ba Be) and one Biodiversity Station (Melinh) were sampled. A total of 90 species of odonates in 60 genera and 15 families was recorded, including two new records for Vietnam: Macromia katae (Macromiidae) and Indothemis carnatica (Libellulidae). Diagnostic illustrations for these two species are provided, as well as the listing of the species recorded from the surveyed areas.

In the course of two surveys in Northern Vietnam during March 2012 and June 2014, the dragonflies and damselflies of three National Parks (Cuc Phuong, Tam Dao, and Ba Be) and one Biodiversity Station (Melinh) were sampled.The odonates from some of these areas have been partially studied in the past; there is a list of the dragonflies (Anisoptera) from Cuc Phuong National Park (Do et al. 2011), and species descriptions from Tam Dao and Ba Be National Parks, but no records from Melinh Station.
In this paper we provide color scans, diagnostic illustrations, and notes for the two species that constitute new records for the country, as well as notes on four additional species which were reported in blogs from Vietnam but for which there are no published peer-reviewed records for the country yet, a checklist of all the species registered during this survey, field pictures of some of them, and a map showing the localities visited.
The four areas visited are located in Northern Vietnam.Cuc Phuong National Park, situated in the Red River Delta in Ninh Binh province, encompasses lowland primary forest extending between two limestone mountain ranges.14, 16-17-vi-2014 (Figure 1).  the Vietnam National Museum of Nature (VNMN).The classification followed is that outlined in Dikjstra et al. (2013).Color scans were done with an Epson Perfection 4870 scanner.Illustrations were composed using a camera lucida coupled to a Nikon SMZ1500 stereomicroscope, and are not to scale.The map was created electronically with ArcView 9.1.
Ninety species of odonates in 60 genera and 15 families were recorded, including 52 species from Cuc Phuong, 29 from Tam Dao, 27 from Ba Be, and 34 from Melinh (Table 1).Two of these species constitute new records for Vietnam: Macromia katae Wilson, 1993 1 male from Melinh (locality 10); Figures 5-7 The presence of antehumeral stripes (Figure 5) and dorsum of abdominal segment 10 produced into a spine-like process (Figure 7) allows distinguishing this species from all other Macromia species recorded so far from China and Vietnam (Wilson 1993).The upright angle and structure of its posterior hamule and prominent perpendicular genital lobe (Figure 6) are shared with Macromia aculeata Fraser, 1927 described from Myanmar and recently recorded from Cambodia (Kosterin 2014a), and M. arachnomima Lieftinck, 1953 described from Borneo.Macromia katae differs from these two species (Fraser 1927;Lieftinck 1953;Wilson 1993;Kosterin 2014b) by its larger size, with abdomen including appendages 55 mm and hind wing 45-46.5 mm long (vs.abdomen 39-48 and hind wing 38-44 mm in the other two species), and color pattern of face with yellow spots at mandible bases, sides of labrum, and postclypeus (vs.indistinct yellowish areas at most).The presence of dark brown spots at wing bases also distinguishes M. katae from M. aculeata, which has no dark basal wing spots.
Macromia katae is so far only known from four localities within lowland secondary forest in China (Guangdong and Hainan) and Hong Kong, and in Laos near the Vietnam border (Yokoi 2003), and it has been assessed as Vulnerable by the IUCN Red List (Wilson 2013).It breeds exclusively in low gradient streams with moderate to fast flow, where the larva is found clinging to roots of mature, well established trees in stream pools or margins (Wilson and Theischinger 1996).Melinh Station encompasses 170.3 hectares of lowland secondary forest, crossed by several streams margined by well developed trees (Figure 4), providing an ideal habitat for the preservation of this species.(Fabricius, 1798) 2 males from Cuc Phuong (localities 2, 7);  The original description of Indothemis carnatica was very brief and lacked any illustrations.After examining its holotype, Lieftinck (1971) synonymized it with I. caesia (Rambur, 1842), and published photographs of its wings, which allowed       us to confirm the identity of our specimens.The genus Indothemis currently includes only one additional species, I. limbata (Selys, 1891), which can be recognized from I. carnatica by differences in wing venation and color pattern (Fraser 1936).Here we provide color scans (Figures 8 and 9) and illustrations of some male body structures which are also of diagnostic value to distinguish both species and have never been figured before; in I. limbata the venter of thorax is only slightly swollen (distinctly swollen in I. carnatica, Figures 8   and 9) and inner branch of hamule is distinctly longer than outer branch (about as long as outer branch in I. carnatica, Figures 10 and 11).

Indothemis carnatica
Indothemis carnatica is apparently scarce and localized in occurrence, known from only a few locations in India, Sri Lanka, Thailand (Dow 2009), and Malaysia (Choong and Cheah 2013).Because of its limited range of distribution in areas altered by human development it was assessed as Near Threatened by the IUCN Red List (Dow 2009).The present     finding extends its known area of occurrence considerably.This species breeds in small, heavily weeded ponds and lakes (Fraser 1936), and habitats suitable for its survival are currently protected within Cuc Phuong National Park (Figures 2 and 3).Another four species found during this survey have been photographed and featured in blogs dealing with Vietnamese odonates (Delonglée 2014;Kompier 2014) but have not yet been recorded in peer-reviewed published literature.Our records for them are: Paracercion calamorum (Ris, 1916) 6 males, 5 females from Cuc Phuong (localities 2, 6, 7) Commonly found perching on floating water plants, this is a widespread species recorded from China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Nepal, Russia, and Thailand, and assessed as Least Concern by the IUCN Red List (Wilson 2009).Description and illustrations of male diagnostic caudal appendages can be found in Ris (1916: 29, 32-33, figure 9) and Dumont (2004: 364-365, figures 13-16).
Mortonagrion aborense (Laidlaw, 1914) 1 male, 1 female from Melinh (locality 9) This is a species tolerant of disturbance which is found in forest streams, shady marshes, and ponds; it was recorded from India to Thailand and Laos, and south to Borneo and Sumatra, and assessed as Least Concern by the IUCN Red List (Subramanian 2010).Asahina (1982: 456-458, figures 1-10) provided a redescription and illustrations of diagnostic structures of males and females (as M. binocellata (Fraser, 1929), a junior synonym of this species).

Zygonyx asahinai
Gynacantha hyalina was recorded from 'Tonkin' (Northern Vietnam) by Martin (1909), and never again mentioned from Vietnam in the literature.Lieftinck (1960: 251-252;figures 12a, b) examined the types of both G. hyalina and its most similar congener G. subinterrupta.He confirmed that the illustrations and species concepts in Martin (1909) agreed with those of their original descriptions, diagnosed the two species from one another, and provided illustrations of the appendages of the male holotype of G. hyalina, which closely match those of the male specimen collected in the present study.
Coeliccia sp., Gomphidia sp., and Heliogomphus sp.(Table 1), most likely represent new species, although revisionary work including examination of types is necessary to confirm this.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We are very grateful to all the people who accompanied and assisted us in the field: Bui Minh Nueh, Luong Xuan Hien (Cuc Phuong), Nguyen Duc Long (Tam Dao), and Quang Khe (Ba Be), and to the personnel of Melinh Biodiversity Station for their hospitality.Our gratitude to Matti Hämäläinen, Rosser Garrison, and two anonymous reviewers for their comments on the manuscript, and to Oleg Kosterin for sharing pictures of the holotype of Macromia aculeata and his diagnostic observations on related species, which allowed confirmation of the identification of M. katae.

LITERATURE CITED
Created in 1960 as a nature reserve, it was declared a National Park in 1962, and constitutes the oldest and largest National Park in Vietnam.Tam Dao National Park, in Vinh Phuc province, is located in a mountainous area including sharp peaks and steep slopes covered by primary and human altered forest.Melinh Station for Biodiversity, administered by the Institute of Ecology and Biological Studies of the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, is situated in the Me Linh district of Vinh Phuc province.Ba Be National Park, in Bac Kan province, was set up to protect a freshwater lake along with surrounding limestone and lowland evergreen forests.Cuc Phuong was visited during 25-26 March 2012 by S. Gaimari, M. Hauser, and T. Pham, and 12-17 June 2014 by N. von Ellenrieder, M. Hauser, and T. Pham.Tam Dao, Melinh, and Ba Be were sampled during June 2014 by N. von Ellenrieder, M. Hauser, and T. Pham.Localities sampled (Figure 1) include: 1. Cuc Phuong, pond by road, 20°15′8″ N, 105°42′47″ E, 178 m, 12-vi-2014; 15-vi-2014.2. Cuc Phuong, Mac Lake, with sedges, grassy margins and flooded areas along road, 20°15′01″ N, 105°42′27″ E, 190 m,

Table 1 .
Dragonflies and damselflies sampled at four protected areas in Northern Vietnam.@: new records for the country.For locality codens see the text.