Diversity and Habitat Use of Odonates in Cauvery Basin, Tamil Nadu, India

Dragonflies and damselflies are commonly called odonates and are one of the most common insects flying and soaring over forest, cultivated fields, meadows, ponds and rivers. They are increasingly being look upon as excellent indicators of ecosystem health. The odonates were collected by hand, sweep net and random field sampling method. A total of 20 species of dragonflies were recorded during the period of study. Maximum of 17 species falls under family Libellulidae and one each under Gomphidae, Aeshnidae and Cordulidae respectively. Similarly 8 species of damselflies were recorded of which 6 species were falls under the family Coenagrionidae and one each of under the family Protoneuridae and Lestidae respectively. The results of habitat usage of dragonflies and damselflies shows that they mainly used the wetlands of pond ecosystem and agricultural fields than that of the riverside and shrub land. Future work should explore the biogeography of lesser studied Anisoptera and Zygopteran groups from Cauvery basin.

Keywords: Diversity, Dragonfly, Damselfly, Odonate, Habitat.