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Diversity of Dragonflies (Insecta: Odonata) in a Deciduous Forest of

Thoothukudi District, Tamil Nadu, South India

Article in International Journal of Environmental Protection and Policy · January 2016

DOI: 10.11648/j.ijepp.20160403.13

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International Journal of Environmental Protection and Policy
2016; 4(3): 58-63
http://www.sciencepublishinggroup.com/j/ijepp
doi: 10.11648/j.ijepp.20160403.13
ISSN: 2330-7528 (Print); ISSN: 2330-7536 (Online)

Diversity of Dragonflies (Insecta: Odonata) in a Deciduous

Forest of Thoothukudi District, Tamil Nadu, South India
Anita Kannagi1, V. Sivakumar2, V. Santhi1
1
Research Centre of Zoology, Jayaraj Annapackiam College for Women (Autonomous), Periyakulam, Tamil Nadu, India
2
Department of Zoology, VOC College, Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu, India

Email address:
Anitaarul1911@gmail.com (A. Kannagi), drsivak@gmail.com (V. Sivakumar), velu.santhi62@gmail.com (V. Santhi)

To cite this article:

Anita Kannagi, V. Sivakumar, V. Santhi. Diversity of Dragonflies (Insecta: Odonata) in a Deciduous Forest of Thoothukudi District, Tamil
Nadu, South India. International Journal of Environmental Protection and Policy. Vol. 4, No. 3, 2016, pp. 58-63.
doi: 10.11648/j.ijepp.20160403.13

Received: March 29, 2016; Accepted: May 11, 2016; Published: May 19 2016

Abstract: The study of Odonata communities along deciduous forest requires the basic understanding of the abundance,
distribution and number of species present. As habitat conditions change, they also exhibit changes in their diversity and
distribution. The present study was carried out in Kuthiraimozhi theri deciduous forest located in Thoothukudi District, Tamil
Nadu, South India during July 2009 to June 2010 to assess the diversity of odonates. The forest is open, sandy, low tree lands
with predominance of thorny, usually hard wood species. Observations were carried out twice in a month during morning, and
evening times. A total of 958 dragonflies belonging to 20 species (2 species unidentified) belonging to 16 genera and 4 families
were recorded. The family Libellulidae (15 species) was found to be dominant in the study region, followed by families
Aeshnidae, Chlorogomphidae and Gomphidae, which were represented by a single species. The data was analyzed for Species
richness, Shannon’s diversity index and Simpson’s index. Maximum number (237) of dragonflies was collected during
December 2009 and the highest Species richness (2.35) and Shannon’s diversity index (2.08) was recorded during June 2010.
This study has shown that, Odonata diversities along the Kuthiraimozhi theri deciduous forest vary hence these populations
can be monitored, related and used as indicators of the physical structure of the deciduous forest and its surrounding ecotones.
This inventory has served as the baseline for Odonata communities in the deciduous forest hence can be a measure of
monitoring in the near future. Finally, there must be an increase in education on the importance of using local insect species as
first level indicators of environmental health which when improved upon can save the nation a lot of money otherwise used in
the chemical evaluation and monitoring of environment.
Keywords: Odonata, Diversity, Deciduous Forest

geographical area. In India, of the 86% of the tropical forest

1. Introduction area, 54% is dry deciduous and rest is evergreen [1]. Tamil
The mighty land of India is not only famous for its culture, Nadu state is spread over a geographical area of 1, 30,058 sq.
architecture, heritage, but also for its jungles, forest and wild km and has a recorded forest area of 22,877 sq. km
life. Indian forests are the richest assemblage of biodiversity, accounting for 17.59% of its total geographical area. Forest
which reflects underlying climatic, topographic, vegetation in South India essentially comprises tropical thorn
biogeography and biotic evolutionary diversity. The term forests which occupy a considerable area. The role of insects
forest implies ‘natural vegetation’ of the area, existing from in the preservation of indispensable life support systems in
thousands of years and supporting a variety of biodiversity natural habitats is well recognized.
forming a complex ecosystem, which predominantly The insect order Odonata includes some of the most ancient
composed of trees, shrubs and is usually a closed canopy. and beautiful insect that ever roamed earth [2]. Approximately
The forest cover of India is assessed as 67.83 million 6000 species and subspecies to 630 genera in 28 families are
hectares which constitute 20.64% of the country’s known from all over the world [3], out of which 499 species
and subspecies of Odonata under 139 genera in 17 families,
59 Anita Kannagi et al.: Diversity of Dragonflies (Insecta: Odonata) in a Deciduous Forest of
Thoothukudi District, Tamil Nadu, South India

are represented in India [4]. Odonate with 474 species in 142 2.2. Collection and Preservation of Specimen
genera and 18 families are known from India [5]. The presence
of dragonflies is important indicators for ecological balance. Sites were selected in the proposed deciduous forest and a
Odonates were the first insect group that has been globally random sampling was then conducted from July 2009 to
assessed [6]. Dragonflies have been extensively used as 2010. The odonates were normally collected by various direct
indicators of environmental quality in aquatic ecological units collections.
[7]. Dragonflies are key organisms of the food web as Observations were carried out twice in a month during
predators both as larvae and as imagoes [8]. Odonates play morning, and evening times. Species were photographed and
important ecological roles as both predators and prey, loss of identified in their natural habitat, but in few cases when it
odonata species could have a ripple effect (known in ecology was difficult to assess, then specimens were captured for
as a trophic cascade) on terrestrial and aquatic food webs [9]. their further identification and after that they were released in
Dragonflies are very valuable insect and the knowledge of the their natural habitat. Collections of specimens were done
fauna is important for decision making about environmental with the help of specially designed insect net.
protection and crops management [10]. The aerial net was used for collecting flying insects
The odonate fauna of Kerala is well documented, some of especially the butterflies and the dragonflies. Aerial nets
the prominent works include [11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, typically have net bags that are composed entirely of some
19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25], which provided information type of meshed material and often have a light weight handle.
regarding the status and distribution of odonates in different For the present study the white aerial net bags were used for
parts of Kerala. Total of 23 species belonging to 13 genera effective collection. Aerial nets with larger hoops were used
and 4 families were recorded from Sindhudurg district, for collecting large and fast moving insects such as butterflies
Maharashtra, India [26]; total of 26 species of dragonflies and the dragonflies.
(sub-order Anisoptera) belonging to 3 families were recorded 2.3. Data Analysis
from the Bodoland University between May 2013 to
November 2014 [27]; 21 species of odonates were recorded The diversity indices viz. Shannon Weiner index (H’),
from Coimbatore and Salem districts in Tamil Nadu [28]; 66 Simpson’s index (λ), species richness (R1 and R2) were
species of odonates from the state of Goa [29]; 13 more calculated by using GW-Basic version 3.22.
species of odonates from the state of Goa [30]; and 52
species of odonates from Kerala Agricultural University 2.3.1. Species Richness Index (SR)
Campus, Thrissur, Kerala. [31]. Species richness means equal distribution of individual
But insufficient records are acknowledged about the belonging to different species.
diversity of odonates in the deciduous forest in Eastern Margalef index (R1)
Ghats. So the present work was undertaken to study diversity Margalef index (R1) was calculated using the following
of odonates in a deciduous forest in South India from July formula,
2009 to June 2010. S−1
R1 =
LogN
2. Materials and Methods
Key:
2.1. Study Area S = Total number of species in a community
N = Total number of individuals observed.
The Kuthiraimozhi theri deciduous forest is located in
between 8°32’25.01’’ N latitudes and 78°2’28.98’’E 2.3.2. Diversity Indices
longitudes in Thoothukudi District, Tamil Nadu, South India. Shannon–Wiener index (H’)
It comprises tropical thorn forests, which occupy a Diversity was calculated by using the following formula,
considerable area of about 1440 hectares. The forests are
S
open, sandy, low tree lands with predominance of thorny, H’ =
usually hard wood species. The genus Acacia and several ∑ =1 ( )
other genera allied to Acacia is characteristic of the flora
found in this area. Apart from this, spiny, low shrubs and few Key:
climbers are also present. A thin layer of grass grows during Ni = Number of individual species in the sample
monsoon season and the soil is barer during the drier months. N = Total number of individuals in the sample
The climate of South east coast of India is broadly In = Number of individuals
described as tropical monsoon type with four seasons namely Simpson’s index (λ)
i) Post-monsoon season (Jan. – Mar.), ii) Summer (Apr. – The measure equals the probability that two entities taken
Jun.), iii) Pre-monsoon season (Jul. – Sep.) iv) and Monsoon at random from the dataset of interest represent the same
season (Oct. – Dec.). type. It equals:
 International Journal of Environmental Protection and Policy 2016; 4(3): 58-63 60

belonging of 4 families and 16 genera were recorded (Figure

1). Among them 15species were from the family Libellulidae
λ= P
and only 1 species by the families Aeshnidae,
Chlorogomphidae and Gomphidae were recorded (Table 1).
λ Obtains small values in data sets of high diversity and The most diverse and abundant family is Lebellulidae and
large values in data sets of low diversity. least diverse and abundant families are Aeshnidae,
Chlorogomphidae and Gomphidae. Earlier studies on the
Kerala odonates also have reported Libellulidae as the
3. Results and Discussion dominant odonate family [17, 26, 27].
In our study 20species (2 unidentified) of odonates
Table 1. Showing the month wise representation of individual species per hectare in the order Odonata in the Deciduous forest.

PRE MONSOON MOJNSOON POST MONSOON SUMMER

FAMILY JUL JAN TOTAL
AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC FEB MAR APR MAY JUN
2009 2010
LIBELLULIDAE
Trithemis aurora 2 2 5 2 11
Trithemisfestiva 12 27 7 4 3 2 55
Pantalaflavescens 2 2 2 5 2 13
Lathrecistaasiatica 2 2 4
Diplacodestrivialis 7 2 168 114 165 40 5 7 12 520
Zyxommapetiolatum 17 2 7 5 5 7 12 55
Rhyothemisvariegata 5 2 5 5 7 24
Aethriamantabrevipennis 5 5
Crocothemisservilia 2 17 14 10 2 45
Orthetrumglaucaum 5 8 5 10 7 35
Trameabasilaris 2 2 5 8 17
Tramealimbata 2 2 4
Palpopleurasexmaculata 2 2 5 5 14
Bradinopygageminata 5 2 2 9
Cratillalineata 5 2 5 10 17 39
GOMPHIDAE
Ictinogomphusrapax 5 16 2 10 2 12 35 82
CHLOROGOMPHIDAE
Chlorogomphuscampioni 2 5 2 9
AESHNIDAE
Anaciaeschnajaspidea 5 4 2 2 13
Unidentified - 1 2 2
Unidentified - 2 2 2
TOTAL 12 46 18 16 5 237 143 218 80 44 31 108
958
76 258 441 183

In the present study maximum number of species was monsoon in the deciduous forest (Table 1). This might be due
recorded during the post-monsoon season, which might be to favourable climatic conditions and also the presence of
due to the availability of prey population, which in turn aquatic vegetation in the habitat. Further during post-
depends on forest vegetation and the nearby agro ecosystem. monsoon season the availability of the prey of odonates were
From present study we conclude that the Family Lebellulidae maximum due to rich vegetation in the forest area after heavy
is the most dominant family comprising 75% of species downpour. The abundance of prey in the post-monsoon
respectively and the most abundant species is Diplacodes season reflected the presence of many odonates in the habitat.
trivialis in present study area. Dragon flies preferred small flies (Diptera) to large flies.
The life history of odonates is closely linked with water Similar findings were observed by [25, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36].
bodies. They use a wide range of flowing and stagnant water The availability of fresh water throughout the year in the
bodies. They exhibit complex life histories requiring use of post monsoon season in the deciduous forest, make the
both aquatic habitat as larvae and littoral, riparian and upland Odonata feel at home because it needs fresh water for its
areas as adults for maturation, foraging and mating. reproduction. Less number of Odonata was recorded during
In the monsoon season the tanks and ponds were almost pre-monsoon season might be due to dry climate and lack of
filled with water which paves way for the breeding of dragon vegetation (Figure 2).
flies and the adults could have emerged in the post-monsoon The richness indices (R1) were highest (2.35) in June
season. Odonata also exhibited more abundance during post indicating species richness of odonates was greatest during
61 Anita Kannagi et al.: Diversity of Dragonflies (Insecta: Odonata) in a Deciduous Forest of
Thoothukudi District, Tamil Nadu, South India

this period. The H’ value (Shannon’s diversity index) was (0.161) indicating high diversity in June 2010 (Table 2).
higher (2.08) in June and Simpson’s index (λ) was minimum
Table 2. Showing the diversity of the order Odonata in the Deciduous forest (per hectare).

INDEX JUL 2009 AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC JAN 2010 FEB MAR APR MAY JUN
NO 3 5 5 5 1 7 9 11 11 7 5 12
R1 0.805 1.384 1.384 1.443 0 1.097 1.612 1.857 2.282 1.586 1.165 2.349
λ 0.318 0.222 0.222 0.192 1 0.524 0.640 0.658 0.275 0.165 0.243 0.161
H’ 1.028 1.456 1.456 1.507 0 1.024 0.892 1.064 1.761 1.801 1.420 2.079

R1 - Margalef index, λ - Simpson’s index, H’ - Shannon–Wiener index.

Figure 1. Showing the images of the dragonflies present in the study area during July 2009 to June 2010.
 International Journal of Environmental Protection and Policy 2016; 4(3): 58-63 62

Figure 2. Month wise diversity of families, genus and species in the order Odonata in the Deciduous forest.

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