A preliminary study on diversity status of Odonates in and around college of forestry Campus, Uttara Kannada, Karnataka, India

Abstract

Odonata is an insect order with two sub orders, Zygoptera and Anisoptera. They are an amazing insect group with an amphibious life cycle. This makes them an important component of freshwater ecosystems and indicators of ecosystem health. The present study was an attempt made to document and analyse the odonate diversity of College of Forestry Sirsi campus, a 14-ha site in Sirsi, Karnataka, India. The study was done in the field where individual observations were identified and recorded with the help of appropriate field guides. A total of 32 odonate species, i.e., 22 dragonflies and 10 damselflies belonging to 7 families were observed in the study area. Within this diversity, a higher proportion of families Libellulidae and Coenagrionidae within orders Anisoptera and Zygoptera respectively was found. This presence of generalists more than specialists might be due to higher proportion of anthropogenic disturbances in the study site.