Dragonflies and damselflies (Odonata) from the wetland of the Rio Pandeiros, northern region of Minas Gerais State, Brazil, with a description of the male of Archaeogomphus vanbrinki Machado (Anisoptera: Gomphidae)

The Odonata from the Refúgio Estadual da Vida Silvestre do Rio Pandeiros (RVSP), located in the Cerrado domain, Minas Gerais State, Brazil, were rapidly surveyed. Sampling efforts were undertaken along the Rio Pandeiros margins during four sampling periods between the rainy (spring–summer) and dry seasons (autumn–winter) from July 2014 to April 2015. We sampled 97…

Three new species of the genus Ceylonosticta Fraser, 1931 (Odonata: Zygoptera: Platystictidae) from Sri Lanka and the rediscovery of Ceylonosticta subtropica (Fraser, 1933)

Three new species of Ceylonosticta are described and illustrated: Ceylonosticta nancyae sp. nov., Ceylonosticta rupasinghe sp. nov. and Ceylonosticta alwisi sp. nov. from Samanala Nature Reserve (Adam’s Peak), Kuruwita-Erathna footpath, Ratnapura District, Sri Lanka. Ceylonosticta subtropica has been recorded for the first time after 83 years and the first depiction of its genital ligula is…

Odonata of Itatira, a Brazilian semi-arid area in the state of Ceará

The present study provides the first odonate survey for the Brazilian Caatinga, including species habitat information. Specimens were collected during five days in both dry and rainy seasons of 2011 in the municipality of Itatira, state of Ceará, located in the semi-arid region of northeastern Brazil. Adult individuals of 37 species were documented, the highest…

Odonata communities in retrodunal ponds: a comparison of sampling methods

Dragonflies are commonly used as indicators of environmental quality and different methods have been employed to monitor odonate assemblages, such as surveys of all adults, evaluations based on breeding adults, sampling of larvae and collection of exuviae. Results obtained with different sampling methods may not be interchangeable, as the different life stages (e.g. larvae, adults)…

Papuagrion carcharodon sp. nov. from southern New Guinea (Odonata: Coenagrionidae)

Papuagrion carcharodon, a new coenagrionid from the rainforest of Papua New Guinea’s Simbu Province, is described (holotype: 06°43′S, 145°05′E; 900 m a.s.l., 27 March 2004, to be deposited at Naturalis, Leiden). This new species is similar to P. ekari and P. pesechem but may be distinguished from both by the tooth-shaped lower branch of the…

The dry season governs the reproduction of three pseudostigmatid zygopterans in Costa Rica (Odonata: Pseudostigmatidae)

The large Neotropical zygopterans Megaloprepus caerulatus, Mecistogaster linearis and M. ornata (Pesudostigmatidae) were surveyed during five years, and striking differences in their reproduction patterns were shown: (1) At two study sites in seasonal, tropical semi-dry forests in Pacific Costa Rica, adult M. ornata could be observed throughout the year, occasionally during the dry season up…

Critical species of Odonata in western Africa

Western Africa—defined as the tropical area from Cameroon westwards—probably has the richest odonate fauna in Africa, particularly the region of (and around) the Cameroon highlands. This region is home to many relict and endemic species, such as the continent’s only representatives of the families Amphipterygidae and Perilestidae. Previous selections of threatened West African Odonata have…

Critical species of Odonata in Madagascar

Madagascar has approximately 175 species of Odonata. Of the Anisoptera ca 60% is endemic and of the Zygoptera almost 95%. The endemic species can roughly be separated into ‘new endemics’ that are probably recent arrivals from the African mainland and ‘old endemics’. The latter group includes many members of the families Megapodagrionidae, Platycnemididae and Corduliidae,…