''Gomphidia podhigai''
is a species of
dragonfly
A dragonfly is a flying insect belonging to the infraorder Anisoptera below the order Odonata. About 3,000 extant species of dragonflies are known. Most are tropical, with fewer species in temperate regions. Loss of wetland habitat threat ...
in the family
Gomphidae
The Gomphidae are a family of dragonflies commonly referred to as clubtails or club-tailed dragonflies. The family contains about 90 genera and 900 species found across North and South America, Europe, Asia, Australia, and Africa. The name refers ...
. It is known only from the
Western Ghats of
India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
.
It is described based on a male specimen found in the National Zoological Collections of the
Zoological Survey of India
The Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), founded on 1 July 1916 by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change of the Government of India as a premier Indian organisation in zoological research and studies to promote the survey, explora ...
in
Chennai
Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...
. It was collected from the
Kanyakumari Wildlife Sanctuary
Kanyakumari Wildlife Sanctuary is a protected area in Kanyakumari district, Tamil Nadu, South India declared in February 2008. The area is a tiger habitat. Seven rivers originate in the forest including the Thamirabarani River and Pahrali Riv ...
in
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...
. The species epithet ''
podhigai'' is named after the ancient
Tamil
Tamil may refer to:
People, culture and language
* Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia
**Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka
** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...
name for the
Aghastyamalai were the type locality is situated.
Description and habitat
''Gomphidia podhigai'' is similar to other ''Gomphidia '' species found in the hill streams of
Western Ghats and
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...
in general coloration and markings. However it can be easily distinguished from ''
G. platyceps'' by the presence of a pair of horns in vertex, from ''
G. pearsoni'' by the presence of prominent yellow markings in S10, and from ''
G. kodaguensis'' by the absence of yellow markings in S8–S9.
See also
*
List of odonates of India
The following is a list of the odonata, dragonflies and damselflies found in India.
Aeshnidae
* ''Aeshna''
** ''Aeshna flavifrons'' Lichtenstein, 1976
** ''Aeshna juncea mongolica''
** ''Aeshna mixta mixta'' Latreille, 1805
** ''Aeshna petalur ...
References
Gomphidae
Insects described in 2019
{{Gomphidae-stub