DAMSEFLY (Syllabus: GS Paper 3 – Env and Eco)

Context: A new damselfly species has been discovered in Kerala’s southern Western Ghats.

• The insect ‘Armageddon reedtail’ or protosticta armageddonia, to draw attention to the global decline of insect populations due to rampant habitat loss and climate change.
• The term ‘ecological armageddon’ is used to describe the devastating decline of insect populations around the world. 
• Damselfly Species
• Name: Anamalai Reed-tail (scientific name: Protosticta anamalaica Sadasivan, Nair and Samuel, 2022).
• First Time Spotted: Peechi Wildlife Sanctuary.
• Habitat: Tropical, subtropical and temperate jungles of the Indian subcontinent and south-eastern Asia.
• Distribution: In India, they are distributed in the Western Ghats and north-eastern region towards Myanmar.

oThe genus was described from Sulawesi in Indonesia.

• Found Species:  15 species of Protosticta in India, among which 12 inhabit the Western Ghats.
• Kerala has 182 odonates species with 69 endemics.