Aeshnidae and Petaluridae

Family Aeshnidae or Hawkers

Anaciaeschna martini 

Selys 1897

Elevation (regionally) 700 to 2100m

Abdomen Length 45 - 55mm

Previously listed as A. donaldi. The photo below shows an A. martini female ovipositing into aquatic plant clusters in the wetland at ICIMOD. As for mating, the male swoops down and grabs the female mating high above the ground at treetop level. The male flies off back to the tree tops and the females descend to oviposit in the pond. The female identification shows an ochre color on the thorax and upper abdomen, the male areas are blue, and the females have dark wing venation. A teneral male specimen found in the Nepal Natural History Museum in Kathmandu is labeled A. martini. A female specimen in the Natural History Museum in Pokhara is labeled A. donaldi. The mixup was fueled by Fraser's search for a male.

A. martini male July 2017. The males of A. martini are hard to find and very few records exist with a good description. We found a male dead on the ground while walking through the Godavari Knowledge Park, but it was confusing when I read that A. martini is found in Korea, Taiwan, Japan, China, Vietnam, and Thailand. Then specimens from the southern Asia region located in several Natural History Museums were listed as A. donaldi being found in Sri Lanka, Nepal, and the Western Ghats in South India, it is a long-distance flyer and the range of its flight is unknown so all the locations seemed possible. It is found near forested swamps and small pools at elevations of 800m to 1700m. In Japan, it is found from sea level to mountain areas. This one was just above a small wetland area east of ICIMOD Knowledge Park in Godavari close to where a female was found in June 2012 ovipositing in a nearby forest pond. A close migratory relative, A. jaspidea, is found below the Godavari area but I have seen it. 

Anax immaculifrons
Rambur 1842
Elevation 1200 - 2100m
Abdomen Length 52-55mm

In August, A. immaculifrons was seen at a waterfall just off the road from Hetauda to Daman. There were two males there, one male was mimicking a mating female by dropping his abdomen into the water. It is a very pretty species to see. They were very busy looking for a female flying up and over the waterfall and downstream then back to the pool under the waterfall.

Anax nigrofasciatus nigrolineatus 

Fraser 1935

Elevation 800 to 2000m

Abdomen Length 53mm

Anax nigrofasciatus nigrolineatus is similar in behavior to A. martini. The flight is rapid over the surface of small ponds, except both males and females are seen flying near the pond. Females oviposit into surface water plants and loose mud close to the sides of these ponds. They have been found at several locations in Godavari and at higher locations at Shiv Puri above 2000m. Sightings are from March through July. Distribution is Nepal and NE India.

Cephalaeschna acutifrons

(Martin, 1921)

Elevation 2000+m

Abdomen Length 50mm

This was captured and released at Shivapuri, Sundarijal side of the park. It was captured and photographed at the same place where Watanabeopetalia atkinsoni was also found. C. viridfrons was found hawking over the road near this same place. It is a rich site for the larger Aeshinds and Corduligasters. It is also the locality for Epiophlebia. According to Asahina 1983, he captured a very similar specimen in the same area. He thought it might be a hybridization between C. acutifrons and C. virdifrons or Cephalaeschna sp. nov.

Male

Cephalaeschna virdifrons

(Fraser, 1922)

Elevation 1800-3000m

Abdomen Length 45mm

Flying low over the road and beside the Nagmati stream at about 4pm was a Cephalaescha. This is one that Asahina, 1955 lists from the area of Shiva Puri. Both males and females had the same behavior flying just above my head. At an elevation of 1900m.

Cephalaeschna viridifrons - male above, female below.

Gynacantha bayadera

Selys 1891

Elevation 800-2000m

Abdomen length 45mm

A widespread species that turns up all over Asia - from New Guinea, Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, and throughout North East India, Myanmar, and Nepal. Its identifying feature is the lack of a black "T" on the upper frons. It flies at dusk and is a voracious carnivore. This one was found cruising up and down the road that goes to Pulchowki Peak (2764m) at an elevation of 1600m. Seen only at dusk from August through October.

Gynacantha incisura 

Fraser 1935

Elevation 700 - 1900m

Abdomen Length 47mm

I first found this one on the doorstep one night in Godavari. It was attracted to the light but must have died in the night. At first, it was not clear that it was G. incisura because the incised part was not very clear as depicted in Fraser's drawing. After looking at drawings by Asahina, 1984 it was more convincing. They are crepuscular and found hanging from branches in the jungle during the day. Found in the Kathmandu Valley and surrounding hills. A mating pair was found in the hills southeast of the city on the way to Lakuri Bhanjyang. The female below was resting on a tree before the male came and mating started. Distribution is listed as Nepal, Myanmar, and Thailand, but I would expect it to show up elsewhere.

The anal appendage is shown above from the ventral surface. The incised part is shallow. Below is the female.

Gynacantha khasiaca

MacLachlan, 1896

Elevation 200m
Abdomen Length 48-49mm

Rare find! Fraser (1936) mentions that it is the most beautiful of all the Gynacanthae. We were walking deep in the Chitwan National Park jungle and spotted this specimen when it was disturbed by us walking past. This is data deficient because so little about its habits and numbers is known. This one was about 10m from the Rapti River in a very thick jungle. Distribution is from Northeast India, Bangladesh, and Myanmar. It is probably in the lowlands of Bhutan but has not been recorded as yet.

Polycanthagyna erythromelas 

(MacLachlan 1896)

Elevation 1300 - 2600m

Abdomen length 67mm

This is a large attractive dragonfly that is found across the Himalayas and into Pakistan on the west and as far as Vietnam to the east. It tends to fly in the evenings flying back and forth as it devours mosquitos. The females differ significantly from the males with reddish-brown from the 2nd segment down. They breed in small ponds and have been found from June through September.

Sarasaeschna previously Oligoaeschna martini?

Lieftinck, 1968

Elevation 1500 - 2000m?

Abdomen length 38-39mm

This one presents many problems as it almost fits the descriptions in Fraser 1934 of Jagoria martini Laidlaw,1921. But this one was reassigned to Oligoaeschna by Lieftinck as he attempted to characterize the genera together under this name. The name was changed again to Sarasaeschna by Karube and Yeh, 2014. According to Lieftinck, there were a few solitary females such as the one I have photographed here. It seems to fit the details of O. decorata. However, I originally put this as O. martini because of the description in Fraser, 1936 of Jagoria martini, but Lieftinck also mentions that Fraser places the female he describes as J. martini but his drawings of the female appendages are much closer to O. decorata. There is still some confusion as to what this one might actually be. So excuse the uncertainty of this identification but given the resources I have, I believe this is as close as I can get. Distribution is listed as Darjeeling and Sikkim.

Sarasaeschna sp.nov.
Karube & Kamp; Yeh, 2001
Elevation 2400m

I was looking for Epiophlebia laidlawi on Sim Bhanjang pass at about 2400m. It was early July and I hoped I wasn't too late for E. laidlawi. A good number of larvae were found in the stream some years back. Since that time the stream has been dammed and reduced to a dirty trickle. The possibility of finding larvae or adults in Sim Khola was remote. So I went over Sim Bhanjang pass to a feeder stream. Then I spotted this Aeschna type flying in the stream bed - not so fast but patrolling a particular area. I was able to get some photos but could not get a specimen. This area has since had serious habitat damage from a large number of earthquake victims being moved nearby. I hope to try again to find this one but habitat changes are fairly extreme from local refugees.

 Genus Aeshna, Fabricus 1775

Aeshna petalura

Martin, 1909

Elevation - above 2000m

Abdomen length 49mm

Location Phulchowki Peak 2680m

Near the top of Phulchowki Peak, the highest in the Kathmandu Valley, there is a pond that varies in size according to rainfall during the year. This is where many Aeshna and Anax larvae emerge in from July to October covering the small plants around the pond's edges with their exuviae. I found one female larva in the water and I took home. I fed it tadpoles for three weeks until it emerged. I returned it to the pond and photographed the female as she developed further and flew off. The males fly across the pond and will nearly touch a female. It seems to be a signal because she immediately follows him up into the highest treetops where they mate and only she returns to oviposit. This emerging process begins in July and continues in various stages until October. Mating is most active in August.