A new status for Fraser's forgotten Aciagrion approximans krishna stat. nov.

Decades after it's description in 1921 by Fraser as "Aciagrion hisopa krishna", it became clear that what Fraser considered A. hisopa actually belonged to another species, Aciagrion approximans. 
The topotypical description of Aciagrion approximans (Kosterin 2014) resolved the confusion between these two species and led us to report that what Fraser described as A. hisopa krishna from Maharashtra is actually A. approximans krishna. 

Joshi, S., K. Kunte, O. Kosterin. 2016 New status for Fraser’s forgotten Aciagrion approximans krishna, stat. nov. (Odonata: Zygoptera: Coenagrionidae) from the Western Ghats of India. International Journal of Odonatology, 19:41-51. [ResearchGate.]

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Update: Article on Odonata of India in 'Parthenos'

[I wrote an article about the begginings of this website and and a few interesting observations, for the Odonata special issue (April 2016) of 'Parthenos', a newsletter of  'DiversityIndia'. This is a modified version of the same article.
Researchgate link to the article.]

     "I started working on this website in May 2014 with the idea of creating a online resource on Indian odonates which can be used as a reference for identifying species, and which will give us insight into distribution of dragonflies in India. The website has since grown rich. With the help of our many contributors the website now includes more than 1900 images across 173 species pages; with more images and species pages being added regularly. Images can be added by anyone via the ‘Submit Observations’ (first a registration is required) and every image is assigned a media code. Each ‘species page’ (for e.g., Euphaea fraseri) has several tabs, under the tab labelled ‘distribution’ also includes a map showing localities where that respective species occurs. ‘Status, Habitat and Habit’ tab presents a matrix of states and months extracted from the uploaded images.

 Some highlights from the observations added so far:                                                                                                              Lyriothemis mortoni Ris, 1919                                                                                                                                                             This record by Prosenjit Dawn from Gorumara National Park is the first for the Indian Subcontinent, after the holotype from Myanmar by Ris (1919). Other reports of this species come from Thailand (Asahina 1988, Hammalainen & Pinratana 1999). This ‘blue’ species is also, unique from other Indian Lyriothemis in regards to it’s colour and size.

 Protosticta ponmudiensis Kiran, Kalesh & Kunte 2015
This latest species to be described from Western Ghats is a collabartion between 'Butterflies of India' founder Krushnamegh Kunte, and Kerala naturalists Kalesh S. and Kiran C. G. It is named after the type locality; Ponmudi Hills, Thiruvananthapuram District, Kerala. The authors were kind enough to provide us with detailed images of the holotype which have been used in their paper (NCBS-PW769).

 Calicnemia nipalica Kimmins, 1958
This species is a new record for India, previously only recorded from three localities in nepal (Dow 2010). Kimmins (1958) described this species from Pokhara, Nepal; all other records are also from Central Nepal. This image from Pakyong, East Sikkim by Dr. Krushnamegh Kunte extends the range of species by more than 400 kilometres eastwards. This species can be identified from other Calicnemia species by the shape and colour of male anal appendages.

 Calicnemia erythromelas Selys, 1891
This damselfly was never recorded in India before 2014, when the author observed this species in Nagaland (as reported in Joshi & Kunte 2014). Later the female this species was also observed by our long-time contributor Joyce Veino from Nagaland (Media Code: bh724) and Sanjay Sondhi (Media Code: bj113), indicating the presence of this species in at least three localities of Nagaland.

 Amphithemis vacillans Selys, 1891
This species even though reported from West Bengal and Assam, has not been recorded for more than 70 years (Sharma & Dow 2010). But Sharma & Dow 2010 further state that,”however this is as likely to be due to a lack of expert sampling in northeast India and Myanmar as to any decline in the species or genuine rarity; nothing can be reliably be inferred from the paucity of records.”
Two current records by Prosenjit Dawn and Somen Sarkar, from Gorumara National Park (West Bengal) and Jeypore Reserve Forest (Assam) respectively are important as they indicate presence of this species in two protected areas and more such records will help us assess the odonates of northeast correctly.