Dragonflies and damsenflies in Anawilundawa Ramsar wetland - Sri lanka

- Dragonfly, having flown the
earth for 300 million years,
dragonflies symbolize ability
to overcome times of
hardship……….

Evolution and Biogeography of
Dragonflies and Damselflies
in Anawilundawa wetland sanctuary

Scientific classification of Odonatas
•Kingdom :- Animalia
•Phylum :- Arthropoda
•Class :- Insecta
•Sub class :- Pterygota
•Infra class :- Palaeoptera
•Super order :- Odonatoptera
•Order :- Odonata
Odonata
Anisopteara Zygoptera Anisozygoptera
 Dragonflies and damselflies which are belong to the Odanata
order included with ancient beautiful insects and the large flying
invertebrates ever in the world.
 Order Odonata can be classified into three sub-orders.

Who are Dragonflies and Damselflies???
• Both dragonflies and damselflies are significant from
other orders in insecta class.
• Size of eyes and shape of abdomen can be used to differentiate
dragonflies and damselflies from other insects. Other than that,
 Two pairs of transparent membranous wings with
pterostigma,
 Hammer-shaped small head with
compound eyes and Minute antennae,
 an aquatic larval stage (nymph),
 Posterior tracheal gills in nymph,
 Prehensile labium in adult (extendible jaws underneath
the head),
 Considerable differences between male & female
according to sex and age, Are characteristic features…

Dragonfly or Damselfly???
Damselfly
•Wing shape
two sets of wings. same
size and shape for both
sets, taper down at the
joint to body, narrow
wings
•Eyes
large, there is a
gap of space
between eyes.
•Body shape
narrowest of twigs, thin and
long
•Position of wings at
rest
fold their wings up and
hold them together
across the top of their
backs.

Dragonfly or Damselfly???
Dragonfly •Eyes
taking up most of the head as they
wrap around from the side to the
front of the face.
•Wing shape
two sets of wings.
Broaden at the
base. and which
makes them larger
than the front set
of wings
•Body shape
bulkier bodies than damselflies, with a
shorter, thicker appearance
•Position of the
wings at rest
perpendicular to
their bodies

Evolution of Dragonflies and
Damselflies

Arthropoda
• Fossils of ancestors of the phylum Arthropoda have been
found in the in the Precambrian era,540-600 million years
ago.
• arthropods diversified rapidly in Cambrian period,500-540
million years ago
• Odonates obtained these common features during the
evolution of their Arthropod ancestors,
 Segmented body
 Jointed appendages
 Compound eyes
 External skeleton

Insecta
• Largest class in the Phylum Arthropoda
• First appeared in the Devonian period about 480
million years ago
• Odonates obtained these common features during the
evolution of their Insect ancestors,
 three pairs of legs
 two pairs of wings
 compound eyes
 one pair of antennae
 Segmented body (head, thorax,
abdomen)

Class Insecta
• Evolution of insects occurred in four stages
• Insects and flowering plants have a symbiotic
relationship
• Because 2/3 of angiosperms are insect pollinated
• This relationship leads to the co-evolution of
angiosperms and insects and diversification of insects.
• Wingless insects were appeared in apterygote stage
• They do not have metamorphosis, so they are called
ametabolous insects.
• About 400 million years ago, in Devonian period first
insects with wings were appeared in paleoptera stage

Dragonflies
• Dragonflies were appeared in paleoptera stage about 320 million
years ago as very first or ancient winged insects.
• Paleopterans have 3 life cycle stages and their metamorphosis is
incomplete so called Hemimetabolous insects. All Odonates are
Hemimetabolous.
• They lived near huge rivers and water sources.
• Wingspan was more than 70 cm long.
• The oldest fossil is belong to carboniferous
period, 300 million years ago.

 Odonates underwent a rapid evolution during the Triassic period and
Jurassic periods.
 The suborders Anisoptera and Zygoptera were arose contemporaneously
and that is no one suborder give rise to the other.
 Closest relatives of Odonates are Mayflies and the distant relatives include
Earwigs Termites and Cockroaches.

• There body plan is not mainly changed from
there ancestors until today, so known as living
fossils.
• But the body size was reduced in to present sizes
from giant sizes in the Carboniferous period.
Evolutionary trends

Adaptations of Dragonflies and
Damselflies….
 To survive in the environment the dragonfly and damselfly
have many adaptations in their life cycle.
 These adaptations can be divided into two groups such as,
Structural adaptations
Behavioral adaptations
 These can be observed through out all their stages of life.
1.Egg
2.Nymph
3. Adult

Structural Adaptations
 Eggs
Their eggs are covered with that a sticky substances
surrounds the eggs.
Nymph
• Having hinged, prehensile mouthparts with strong
teeth
• Camouflaged with sand on the floor of the water
body.
• Zygoptera Nymphs - caudal tracheal gills
• Amnisoptera Nymphs - interior tracheal gills
• Nymph have a streamlined
body.
• have long legs and flat body.

Adult Dragonfly
• Bullet shaped body-allows to fly faster and turn
the flying direction faster.
• Bodies are Camouflage with the environment.
• Adult Odonata have long wings with a
conspicuous pterostigma.
• Articulation of wings –
Flexible joint which attach the wings to thorax
Enable diversified flight movements while flying
they can use the wind power to fly faster.
• The compound eyes of the dragonfly are huge and
movable eyes (about 30000 omatidia)-allows to
see a vast range of the territory.
• 63% of its weight is made up of muscles for
powered flight.
• Have grasping leg pairs for capturing preys.

Behavioral Adaptations
Nymph
• Zygoptera swim by paddling with their legs
• Anisoptera move by jetting water from their abdomens.
Adult Dragonfly
• Wing propel process help to regulate the
body temperature.
• They also bask in the sun to warm up
• The strong flying ability and migration of adults
will allow re-colonization of aquatic habitats
after periods of drought
• Odonata species feed during flight so they can
show hovering flight

• When a dragonfly is in danger of predation, they begin
to flap their wings faster, it is classed as an automatic
function, the dragonfly is only thinking about getting
away.
• They are migrated to face the climatic changes
(decrease of temperature)

Biogeography Of Dragonflies
and Damselflies

In the world……
Found on every continent except Antarctica.
Can be seen in all Wallace's biogeographical regions.
Show continuous distribution and cosmopolitan group
More than 5000 species all over the world
• 3012 species are described species.
• 348 genera
• 11 families
In present most of
dragonflies and damselflies
are distributed in neotropical
region, ethiopian region,
oriental region and australian
region.
Biogeography…….

Effect from the continental
drift

In the Indian Subcontinent…
About 470 speices
• 3 sub orders
• 139 genera
• 19 families
Many of them in North eastern part
Many species shared with Madhya pradesh,
Bangaladesh, Butan, Myanmar, Nepal,
Pakistan, Sri Lanka.
Western Grats has the Highest diversity of
Odonates in the region, which is 324 species.
147 species in South India and 12 species
shared with Sri Lanka.
Biogeography…….

In Sri Lanka……
Continuous distribution in all the
bioclimatic zones in the country.
But species richness and abundance
are varied according to the zones.
Compared to other regions in South Asia,
the species diversity in Sri Lanka is
moderate.
124 species, which 58 species belong to the sub order
Zygoptera and 66 species belong to sub order Anisoptera
Belonging to 13 families
49.2% are endemic (about 60 species)
5 species; no records for last 50 years
Biogeography…….

Species distribution Endemic Species
distribution
Distribution of Odonates through different climatic
zones of Sri Lanka

Habitats and Micro habitats….
 Water is central of life of dragonflies and damselflies.
 Adults usually found near water sources in which they
breed in water.
 Female lay eggs on fresh water bodies.
 Immature dragonflies live in freshwater.
 They are most abundant an diverse in slow-moving
freshwater that has no predatory fish species (small
streams and ponds)
 But can be found in many shallow
freshwater habitats.

Habitats of the Adults
 They are usually found around marshes, lakes, ponds,
streams, fringing vegetation, Savannah and scrub
associated vegetation, beaches and sea shore vegetation,
woodlands, grasslands and wetlands like natural habitats.
 Also found in Home Gardens, paddy fields, farm lands,
Vegetation associated with man made reservoirs and
canals like artificially created habitats.
 Roughly change with temperature and precipitation.
 Occupied mostly in open areas in the grasslands and
surface of the submerged water plants in wetlands as well
as boundaries of the dense forest and open vegetation in
the woodlands.
 Some species specific to some habitats.

Factors that govern the distribution of
Dragonflies and Damselflies….
• Resources for completion of lifecycle specially water sources.
Distribution change with man made water bodies.
• Biogeographical barriers
Oceans
Mountains and Deserts
• Biogeographical connectivities
Land Bridges
Formation of mass continents
• Presence and absence of predatory species.
• Presence and absence of prey species
• Climatic conditions
• Migratory behaviors

Anawilundawa Ramsar Wetland
• Anawilundawa Sanctuary is one of the 6 RAMSAR wetlands in
Sri Lanka
• The sanctuary covers 1,397 hectares lying between the costal
line and the Negambo – Putlam railway line.
• This wetland consist of six large man made tanks and 3
peripheral tanks interconnected to create a complex irrigation
system.
• There are 3 types of eco systems can be recognized,
1. Fresh water wetland system
2. Brackish water wetland system
3. Terrestrial & agricultural system
So there are plenty of habitats and
microhabitats present in these ecosystems that
supporting various animal & plants species

Why we selected Anawilundawa
to study Odonates ???
Because of this diverse habitats and
microhabitats, there are number of
Odonates present in this wetland
ecosystem.
In here dragonfly diversity is high due to
suitable climate
condition for their survival.
 sanctuary consists of many artificial tanks
with agricultural and wetland areas in
between. Theses are proper breeding
grounds for Odonate females and favorable
habitats for nymph stages.
There are 13 species of Odonates belonging
to 4 families. Out of that 4 species are
damselflies and others are dragonflies.

Objectives….
 To observe and identify different species and families of
Dragonflies and Damselflies lived in anawilundawa
wetland.
 To gather information on biogeography and evolution of
Dragonflies and Damselflies .
 To investigate information on their habitats, micro-
habitats and their distribution and adaptations.
 To familiarize about data collecting methods in the field.
 To get the practical knowledge about instruments used
for observation and measuring environmental
parameters in the field.

Pre field visit
• Collected information
about Odonates, their
distribution and
evolution.
• Obtained the check list of
Odonata species in
Anawilundawa .
• Learned how to
identifying the species of
dragonflies & damselflies.
• Made a set of cards with
photographs of each
species
Field visit
• Observations were
carried out along the line
transect in the field.
• Species of Odonates were
identified.
• Micro habitats were
observed and recorded.
• Environmental
parameters were
measured.
• Data was recorded in the
data sheet.
Post field visit
• Results were
analyzed.
• Unidentified
species were
identified.
• Presentation was
prepared based on
the information
gathered.
Methodology

Data list…
No: Observed species Number of
animals
01 Ceriagrion coromandelianum (Yellow damselfly) 40
02 Diplacodes trivialis (Little blue dater) 5
03 Aethriamanta (black head ) 5
04 Beachythemis contaminate (Orange wing groundling) 10
05 Rhyathemis variegate (Variable glider) 30
06 Ictinogomphus rapar (Asian tiger) 12
07 Pseudagrion malbaricum (Malabar sprite) 1
08 Aehathriamanta contaminate (Orange wing) 8
09 Neurothermis tullia (Black velvet) 15
10 Orthetrum Sabina (Sombre skimmer) 6
11 Tholymis tillarga (Coral-tailed cloudwing) 1

1.Crocothermis servilia servilia
(Oriental scarlet)
Male Female

Habitats-
Weedy tanks, ponds
Marshes and irrigated
paddy from low lands
to mid-hills
Local Distribution -
All over the country
Global Distribution-
Oriental and palearctic regions
East and south Asia
Jamaica,Florida,Huwaii

2. Diplacodes trivialis
(Little blue darter)
Male Female

Habitats-
near the water, paddy field
Global distribution-
Oriental, Australian and
Palearctic regions
Greek Island, Eastern Algeria,
Japan, Papua New Guinea
Samoa, Australia

3. Copera marginipes
(Rimmed featherleg)
Male Female

Habitats-
Drains, Ditches, Near human
habitations
Distribution is restricted to
South west and montane
region recently.
Oriental region

4. Ictinogomphus rapax
(Asian tiger)
Male Female

Habitats-
Small ponds, Slow rivers,
Canals, Marshes
Oriental and Australian
regions
India, Nepal, China

5. Orthetrum sabina
(Sombre skimmer)
Male Female

Habitats-
Ponds, Lakes
Marshes, Irrigation
Canals, Paddy fields
Global Distribution-
Oriental, Australian and
Palearctic regions
China, Japan,India
New Guinea, Australia

6. Neurothemis tullia
(Black velvet wing)
Male Female

Habitats -
Open wasteland / edge of
ponds, Paddy fields
All over the country except Northern
peninsula
Global Distribution -
Oriental region
Bangladesh, China, Hong Kong,
India, Malaysia, Myanmar,
Nepal, Taiwan, China,
Thailand, Vietnam

7. Rhyothemis variegate
(variable glider)
Male Female

Habitat -
Exposed (but mostly tree lined), ponds
and lakes (uplands & lowlands)
Oriental region
Bangladesh, China, Hong Kong,
India, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal,
Taiwan, China, Thailand,
Vietnam

8. Aethriamanta brevipennis
(Black headed basker)
Male Female

Habitats-
Open wasteland / edge of
ponds (mostly lowlands)
Frequently found in North Western
region of the country
Oriental region
Bangladesh, India, Indonesia,
Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar,
Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam

9. Ceriagrion coromandelianum
(Yellow Damselfly)
Male Female

Habitat -
Shrubs, grassy areas near ditches,
water’s edge, paddy, canals,
marshes, weedy ponds and lakes
Oriental region
Very common & widely distributed
in India, Nepal, South China

10. Ischnura aurora
(Dawn Blue Tail)
Male Female

Habitat -
In vegetation next to a wide range of
slow moving & stagnant water
habitats from the coast to the mountains
Eg: Open grassy areas
around ponds, paddy fields,
ditches and brackish water.
Oriental, Palearctic and
Australian regions

11. Pseudagrion malabaricum
(Malabar sprite)
Male Female

Habitat -
From lowlands up to mid hills
E.g.: Tanks, Marshes, Paddy fields
etc. Much common in the wet
zone.
Dispersed areas other than North
and East of the island.
Oriental region – South Asia only
Western Ghats, West Bengal of
India, Myanmar

12. Tholymis tillarga
(Coral-tailed cloudwing)
Male Female
Not recoded in the checklist

Habitats-
Weedy ponds,drains
Open water bodies
Distribution-
Oriental, Ethiopian and
Australian regions
Asia, Africa, Australia
Indian ocean island

13. Brachythemis contaminate
(Orange-winged Groundling)
Male Female

Habitats-
Canals, Drains, Paddy fields,
Sluggish streams, Rivers and
Wells
Oriental, Palearctic, Ethiopian and
Astralian Regions
India, Nepal, China, Japan,
Indonesia, Philippines

Environmental Parameters….
Air >>>>
Temperature 33.3℃/92 F
wind speed 0.3 km/h
wind direction to East
humidity 68 %
Soil >>>>
Temperature 39℃
 pH 7.3
Color (Munsell soil color chart)
7.56YR
Value =6
Chorma =4
Water >>>>
 Temperature 32℃
 pH 6.95
 Conductivity 1261µs
 Salinity 0.6ppt

Number of recorded per month % of of endemic species records
Statistics….
• Favorable environmental
conditions are critical for their
existence, distribution and
abundance.
•Most of the species can be
observed in October.

Most common species….
01. Yellow Damselfly
Why so common???
•Suitable ecological parameters
• Various foods
• Lack of predators
• Higher adaptations to the environment

Rarely observed species
01. Little Blue Darter 02. Malabar sprite
1. ecological parameters may not
suitable
2. their habitat may not be very
common in observed area

Special behaviors…….
Variable glider
• Fly as gang over the 5 or 6 meter
• Look like butterfly
• Size also larger than some dragonflies

Special behaviors…….
Asian tiger
• “Guardian of the watershed”
• Fly very fast in same pathway over the water.

Out of check list…..
(Coral-tailed cloudwing)
• Migration
• Suitable environmental
parameters
• Impacts of climate
changes

Conclusions….
 10 species out of 13 were observed and one unrecorded species
in the check list was found.
 Most dragonflies and damselflies species were observed in open
sunny habitats.
 Male and females of the same species were observed in the same
habitat.
 Improved the identification skills of Dragonflies and Damselflies.
 Got the ability of using instruments in the field.
 Experience was gained to collect data in the field, record and to
analyze them.
 Evolution and the biogeography of the Dragonflies and
Damselflies was clearly understood.
 Developed soft skills and group working abilities.
 Learned how to effectively use the sis.

Reference :
• 2014_Dragonfly fauna of Sri
Lanka_Pensofthttp://www.iucnredlist.org/initiativ
es/mediterranean/dragonflies
• Dragonfies of srilanka by matjaz bedjanic,karen
connoff,gehan de silva
• An Introduction to Diversity, Ecology and
Conservation by Amila Prasanna Sumanapala
• The National Red List 2012 of Sri Lanka-
Biodiversity Secretariat, Ministry of
Environment

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