Dysphaea ethela

Dysphaea ethela,[3][1] black torrent dart,[4][5] is a species of damselfly in the family Euphaeidae. The insect is named after Frederic Charles Fraser's wife, Ethel Grace Fraser (née Varrall) (1881-1960), a constant companion of his collecting trips in India.[2][6]

Dysphaea ethela
Male
Female
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Class:
Insecta
Order:
Odonata
Suborder:
Zygoptera
Family:
Euphaeidae
Genus:
Dysphaea
Species:
D. ethela
Binomial name
Dysphaea ethela
Fraser, 1924[2]

It is found in Karnataka and Kerala and Tamil Nadu in Western Ghats.[1] This species is also known from the Eastern Ghats and central India.[7][4][8]

Description

It is a medium sized damselfly with black head and brown-capped pale grey eyes. Its thorax is black, marked with narrow antehumeral and humeral greenish-yellow stripes. There are another yellow stripes on the base of lateral sides. These marks will get obscured by pruinescence in old males. Wings are transparent; but evenly enfumed with brown. Abdomen is black, marked with yellow apical annules up to segment 8. There are yellow lateral stripes up to segment 6. Anal appendages are black.[9]

Female is short and robust; the yellow marks are more broad and vivid. The yellow lateral stripes continued to segment 7. Segment 8 has a narrow and 9 has a broad yellow apical annule, covering dorsal half.[9]

Habitat

It breeds in streams and rivers. Commonly seen perched on reeds or bushes on the river's bank or settled on rocks far inside the stream.[9][2][7][4][5]

  • The female laying eggs on a submerged plants in a slow flowing stream

See also

References
  1. Dow, R.A. 2019. Dysphaea ethela. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2019: e.T163734A122208779. https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-2.RLTS.T163734A122208779.en. Downloaded on 26 July 2019.
  2. C FC Lt. Fraser (1924). A Survey of the Odonate (Dragonfly) Fauna of Western India and Descriptions of Thirty New Species (PDF). pp. 480–481.
  3. Martin Schorr; Dennis Paulson. "World Odonata List". University of Puget Sound. Retrieved 12 Oct 2018.
  4. "Dysphaea ethela Fraser, 1924". India Biodiversity Portal. Retrieved 2017-03-07.
  5. "Dysphaea ethela Fraser, 1924". Odonata of India, v. 1.00. Indian Foundation for Butterflies. Retrieved 2017-03-07.
  6. Hämäläinen, Matti (2015). "Catalogue of individuals commemorated in the scientific names of extant dragonflies, including lists of all available eponymous species-group and genus-group names" (PDF). International Dragonfly Fund (IDF) - Report. 80: 1–168. ISSN 1435-3393. Retrieved 18 September 2020.
  7. Subramanian, K. A. (2005). Dragonflies and Damselflies of Peninsular India - A Field Guide.
  8. 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. 82–83. ISBN 9788181714954.
  9. C FC Lt. Fraser (1934). The Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma, Odonata Vol. II. Red Lion Court, Fleet Street, London: Taylor and Francis. pp. 92-94.

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