Rare dragonfly ‘rediscovered’ after 87 years

A dragonfly, Anaciaeschna martini, commonly known as Martin’s Duskhawker, has been ‘rediscovered’ in the Nilgiris after 87 years.

The rediscovery of the species was published recently in the Journal of Threatened Taxa, titled ‘Rediscovery of Martin’s Duskhawker from Western Ghats, Peninsular India, with notes on its current distribution and oviposition behaviour.’

Interestingly, the record of this dragonfly in the Nilgiris could have gone completely unnoticed, if not for amateur enthusiasts sharing pictures of the insects they had been documenting in the Western Ghats. Manoj Sethumadhavan, a trustee from the Wynter-Blyth Association, a group of enthusiasts documenting the different species of insects, primarily butterflies and moths in the Nilgiris, said he had shared a picture of the Martin’s Duskhawker on a Facebook group.

“Other naturalists like Dr. Kalesh Sadasivan, from the Travancore Natural History Society in Thiruvananthapuram saw the picture and went about trying to identify the dragonfly,” said Mr. Manoj, who co-authored the paper on the species’ rediscovery along with Kalesh Sadasivan, S. Jeevith and Baiju Kochunarayanan.

The authors of the paper noted that the last record of Anaciaeschna martini in India was from 1933 from the Anamalai Hills. The species had been documented in the Nilgiris and in Munnar over the last few years. The distribution range for the species was Sri Lanka, Nepal, Peninsular India and Japan, they said.

Speaking to The Hindu, Mr. Manoj Sethumadhavan noted that dragonflies, which belonged to an order of flying insects known as Odonata, were prime indicators of a healthy ecosystem. “The richness and wealth of the environment can be assessed by the presence or absence of these subtle species. Serious study of Odonates of the Western Ghats has gained momentum only recently, since the early part of the last decade. Apart from the scientific community, citizen-science initiatives are also now on to identify and conserve these little-known fauna of our region,” he said.

The authors of the paper noted that the study of these lesser-known species could also serve as an indicator of how the Western Ghats landscape was being changed due to anthropogenic factors. “As A. martini is known to be a high-elevation species restricted to montane lakes and waterbodies, and known to inhabit grasslands and wet montane forests, any threats faced by Shola forests and grasslands could also impact species like the Martin’s Duskhawker,” said Mr. Sethumadhavan.

The status of the species was possibly locally ‘not uncommon’, but may be rare altogether in the Western Ghats. Further studies of odonates occupying the montane lakes of Western Ghats could help identify the changing environment conditions of this threatened mountain ecosystem, said Dr. Kalesh Sadasivan in a statement.

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