Description of Lyriothemis keralensis sp. n. (Odonata: Libellulidae) from the southwestern coast of India

Abstract

A new species of dragonfly, Lyriothemis keralensis sp. n. is described from the coastal plains adjoining the Western Ghats of Kerala, southern India, based on a male holotype (IBC-CD161) and a female paratype (IBC-CD310) (type specimens are deposited in the Biodiversity Lab Research Collections, currently held at the National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bengaluru). This taxon was hitherto misidentified as L. acigastra (Selys, 1878) from which it differs in having leaner abdomen, and differently shaped secondary genitalia and caudal appendages. Information on its biology and ecology are provided.