Effectiveness of organic terrace rice cultivation in conservation of odonates in Sikkim, Eastern Himalaya, India

Conversion of natural habitat into agricultural landscape has been identified as one of the major drivers of habitat loss. Human-modified ecosystems, such as agricultural land, have gained significant attention in terms of the conservation of their native biodiversity. We studied the effectiveness of organic agroecosystems in conserving odonate diversity by comparing organic terrace rice cultivation…

Ecological correlates of odonate assemblages of a Mediterranean stream, Wadi Cherf, northeastern Algeria: implications for conservation

We investigated the odonates of Wadi Cherf, a tributary of Wadi Seybouse, and explored the main environmental factors that may be important drivers of the abundance and diversity of Odonata assemblages. PCA analyses demonstrated a significant altitudinal gradient associated with water flow, temperature, vegetation cover, substrate and adjacent land use. Notably, pollution was a dominant…

Flight initiation distance in dragonflies is species-specific, positively related to starting distance and sometimes body length

Predator escape behaviour is a critical component of dragonfly life history. Flight initiation distance is the distance at which escape commences, and is well studied in vertebrates, barely studied in invertebrates, and entirely unstudied in dragonflies. Here we test four principles regarding flight initiation distance as derived from studies of vertebrates to examine if they…

A study of Coeliccia cyanomelas Ris, 1912 (Odonata: Platycnemididiae)

Coeliccia cyanomelas is studied based on a large series of specimens from its whole distribution range. Intraspecies variations of color patterns on the thorax are discussed. Coeliccia sexmaculata Wang, 1994, Coeliccia mingxiensis Xu, 2006, and Coeliccia wilsoni Zhang & Huo, 2011 are all assigned as junior synonyms of Coeliccia cyanomelas. One ‘variety’ from Guizhou is…