Odonata fauna in adjoining areas of Amirthi Zoological Park in Vellore District, Tamilnadu, India

The objective of the present study is to explore the diversity of dragonflies and damselflies (Odonata) in Amirthi Forest Division, Vellore District. Dragonfly watching and recording has been done in each line transect during a week. A total of 37 species belonging to 29 genera and 6 families viz. Lestidae, Platycnemididae, Coenagrionidae (under suborder Zygoptera) and Coenagrionidae, Platycnemididae and Libellulidae (under suborder Anisozygoptera) were recorded. The maximum number of Odonates were found in Libellulidae (n=20), followed by Coenagrionidae (n=11 species), Aeshnidae (n=2 species), Lestidae (n=3 species), Platycnemididae (n=1 species) and Gomphidae (n=1 species). Out of the Site -1 Urban areas, Site -2 Agricultural areas, Site -3 wet land areas and Site - 4 Amirthi park areas are selected study sites, the highest number of Odonate species (28) was recorded in S3 and S2 ranked second with 24 species. Species richness was comparatively low in the remaining Study sites: S4 with 21 species and S1 with 18 species. The result of high species richness in the particular study sites (S3 and S2) may be due to the intensity and duration of longer surveys, rather than true ecological species richness. Among the selected Sites the diversity of dragonflies was high in Agricultural areas and wet land areas. Out of the 37 Odonates recorded from the district, 35 species come under the IUCN Red List of Threatened Category. Among them 37 species comes under Least Concern (LC) Category, one species under Data Deficient (DD) and three species is not evaluated. The present study is to encourages the wide range conservation of dragonfly species in the study area.