Family Aeshnidae
Anaciaeschna martini
Selys 1897
Elevation 700-2100m
Abdomen length 45-55mm
Location Godavari, Mai Pokhari Ilam
Previously listed as A. donaldi (Revision of the status of Anaciaeschna donaldi and A. martini with allied species and distributional notes, 2020, Conniff, K.L. et.al.). Below is an A. martini female ovipositing into aquatic plant clusters in the wetland at ICIMOD. The male swoops down grabs the female and they mate high above the ground at treetop level, the males fly off and the females descend to the pond. The female identification shows yellow colors on the thorax and upper abdomen, the male areas are blue, and the females have very dark wing venation as shown. A single teneral male specimen in the Nepal Natural History Museum in Kathmandu is labeled A. martini and a female specimen in the Natural History Museum in Pokhara is labeled A. donaldi. The mixup in these species was fueled by Fraser's search for a male, which is very hard to find. We found one on the ground after a storm. Since then we have observed that mating takes place up above the tree canopy, the male takes off and the female descends to oviposit into small ponds.
Male
No comments:
Post a Comment