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An insect that enjoys a near-360° imaginativeness with thousands of lenses, and tin enactment inactive successful the air, has resurfaced successful Arunachal Pradesh’s Changlang district, astir 600 km eastbound of wherever it was archetypal recorded 110 years ago.
A squad of 4 national scientists recorded Gynacantha khasiaca, a uncommon dragonfly commonly known arsenic the long-tailed duskhawker, from the Namdapha National Park and Tiger Reserve. This insect with 2 compound eyes, each with thousands of tiny lenses and photoreceptor clusters, was past described from the erstwhile Abor Hills successful 1914.
Mahesh R. from Kerala’s Ernakulum, Rajesh Gopinath from Karnataka’s BMS Institute of Technology and Management, Gaurav Joshi from Uttarakhand’s Haldwani, and Roshan Upadhaya, a policeman from Arunachal Pradesh’s Basar, are the authors of a survey connected the “rediscovery” published successful the Journal of Threatened Taxa.
According to the authors, the long-tailed duskhawker was sighted astatine Deban successful October 2024 and confirmed done photographs taken successful the beingness of the wood staff. They said that the uncovering has underscored the request for continued monitoring and situation extortion successful India’s easternmost State.
This genus comprises 92 taxon globally, with astir 30 taxon recorded successful Southeast Asia, and 10 taxon documented successful India. | Photo Credit: Special arrangement
Dragonflies and damselflies, belonging to the bid Odonata, are important components of freshwater ecosystems, arsenic predators and prey successful the aquatic nutrient web. The planetary diverseness of Odonata comprises 6,442 taxon crossed 693 genera.
India is location to 504 taxon and 27 subspecies crossed 152 genera and 18 families. The full fig of taxon successful Arunachal Pradesh is 110. The genus Gynacantha includes ample dragonflies with airy brownish and greenish colouration and crepuscular behaviour.
This genus comprises 92 taxon globally, with astir 30 taxon recorded successful Southeast Asia, and 10 taxon documented successful India.
The authors recorded 17 Odonata taxon during their survey period. These included the Trithemis aurora, Neurothemis fulvia, Orthetrum glaucum, Aristocypha spuria, and Neurobasis chinensis.
“As a item among these observations, a azygous antheral specimen of Gynacantha khasiaca was observed connected October 16, 2024, astir 8 a.m. connected a cloudy time on the Miao-Vijoynagar Road (altitude of 600 m) wrong the Namdapha National Park and Tiger Reserve. The antheral was initially observed rapidly patrolling the roadworthy borderline and hovering portion defending its territory,” their insubstantial said.
Outside India, the long-tailed duskhawker has been recorded successful Bangladesh, Myanmar, and Nepal. In India, beyond Arunachal Pradesh, it has been documented successful Assam, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Uttarakhand, and West Bengal.
The determination nearest to Deban, wherever this dragonfly was recorded successful 2017, is Deopahar, astir 400 km southwest successful Assam’s Golaghat district.
