Diversity and seasonal occurrence of odonates in the dry deciduous ecoregion of Purulia, West Bengal, India

Abstract

A year-long study was conducted in the dry deciduous ecoregion of Purulia, West Bengal, India from March 2018 to February 2019 to document the diversity, species composition, and occurrence of odonata species in different seasons. Direct search and opportunistic sighting methods were used in combination at five selected sites, namely, the Sidho-Kanho-Birsha University campus, Saheb Bandh, the Surulia Deer Park (Mini Zoo), Ketika, and the Kansai river-side. A total of 11,471 individuals belonging to 8 families and 40 species were recorded during the study period. Anisoptera (dragonflies) were represented by 29 species belonging to 4 families, whereas Zygoptera (damselflies) were also found to be represented by 4 families but only 11 species. Libellulidae were found to be the largest family represented by 24 species, while the ground skimmer Diplacodes trivialis was the most dominant species. Species richness was the highest in the post-monsoon, whereas the Shannon diversity index was found to reach maximum values in winter. Overall, we conclude that the town of Purulia and its adjoining area with its patchy vegetation and extreme weather conditions have moderate odonate diversity.

An updated checklist of the butterfly fauna of Ajodhya Hills, Purulia, West Bengal, India along with new distribution records

“…Figure11: Family-wise comparison of published works on butterflies from the study area with the present study(Samanta et al, 2017;Mukherjee, 2021;Kuiry et al, 2022, Mahato et al, 2022Samanta et al, 2022).…”

“…From the documentation by Samanta et al (2017), Mahato et al (2022) and two years of field study, a total of 143 butterfly species belonging to 95 genera, 19 subfamilies and 6 families were recorded . A family-wise checklist containing common and scientific names along with abundance rate is given in Table 1.…”

“…As already seen, some species reported by Samanta et al (2017) such as Common Snow Flat Tagiades japetus, Falcate Oakblue Mahathala ameria and Common Five-ring Ypthima baldus were not found during the two years of the study period. Samanta et al, 2017;Mukherjee, 2021;Kuiry et al, 2022, Mahato et al, 2022Samanta et al, 2022).…”

“…and 16:00 hr. The authors also used previous documentation by Samanta et al (2017) and Mahato et al (2022) to complete the account of the known butterfly diversity of the study area.…”

“…The only detailed work on butterflies of Ajodhya Hills was done by Samanta et al, 2017 which contributed a total of 54 species to the known butterfly fauna of Baghmundi village and some areas Journal of Animal Diversity (2023) | © Lorestan University Press from the Ajodhya Hills (Samanta et al, 2017). After that, some species were added to the butterfly fauna of Ajodhya Hills (Mukherjee et al, 2021;Kuiry et al, 2022;Mahato et al, 2022;Samanta et al, 2022). The authors' motive is to update the number of taxa comprising the butterfly fauna of Ajodhya Hills and they hope the results of this study will help increase understanding of the richness and abundance of the butterfly fauna and also help in the conservation of this under-explored area.…”