Protosticta rufostigma Kimmins, 1958

Joshi, Shantanu, Subramanian, K. A., Babu, R., Sawant, Dattaprasad & Kunte, Krushnamegh, 2020, Three new species of Protosticta Selys, 1885 (Odonata: Zygoptera: Platystictidae) from the Western Ghats, India, with taxonomic notes on P. mortoni Fraser, 1922 and rediscovery of P. rufostigma Kimmins, 1958, Zootaxa 4858 (2), pp. 151-185 : 178-179

Rediscovery of Protosticta rufostigma Kimmins, 1958

( Fig. 20 )

Material examined. 1 ♂ ( ZSI-SRC I/OD/2227): Velachithodu , Kaliyal Beat, Kanyakumari Wildlife Sanctuary, Tamil Nadu, India (8.53833 N, 77.311 74 E; Alt. 482 m), 04.iv.2017, R. Venkitesan leg.

Kimmins (1958) described Protosticta rufostigma from the Odonata collections of the British Museum of Natural History. The specimens (1 ♂ and 2 ♀♀) used in the description were collected from Naraikadu, Tirunelveli (= Tinnevelly), Tamil Nadu (South India) during the month of September 1938 by G.M. Henry. Recently, the Zoological Survey of India, Southern Regional Centre has been surveying the Western Ghats of Tamil Nadu to document the odonate fauna of Kanyakumari Wildlife Sanctuary, Kanyakumari ( Fig. 23b ). While studying the collections, we identified a specimen as belonging to P. rufostigma , which has not been recorded since the species description. This species is distinguished from its close relative P. davenporti , by a combination of following characters: a) central portion of posterior lobe of prothorax black ( Fig. 20 c–d), sides brown (posterior lobe fully black in P. davenporti , Fig. 21 a–b); b) larger pterostigma ( Fig. 20h ); c) outer fork of cerci less than twice the length of inner fork (more than twice the length in P. davenporti ); and d) outer fork of cerci squared at apices ( Fig 20 e–g; rounded in P. davenporti , see Fig. 22 ).

Nodal index: 14 in all wings.

Measurements: abdomen + caudal appendages = 44.4, FW = 24.2, HW = 24, cerci = 1.2, paraprocts = 0.8.

Figures

FIGURE 20. Protosticta rufostigma Kimmins, 1958 [ZSI-SRC I/OD/2227]: (a) habitus, lateral view; (b) pterothorax, lateral view; (c) prothorax, dorsal view; (d) prothorax, lateral view; (e) caudal appendages, lateral view; (f) caudal appendages, dorsal view; (g) close-up of apical fork of right cercus; (h) pterostigma of right FW (in front).

FIGURE 21. Comparison of prothorax of Protosticta spp.: (a) P. davenporti male [NCBS-PW759], Ponmudi, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India, v.2013, S. Kalesh & C.G. Kiran leg.; (b) P. davenporti male [NCBS-QA007], Pandimotta, Shendurney WLS, Kollam, Kerala, 4.v.2014, SJ leg.; (c) P. gravelyi male [NCBS-QA020], Katilapara, Shendurney WLS, Kollam, Kerala, 9.v.2014, SJ leg.; (d) P. gravelyi female [ZSI-SRC I/OD/2228], Gouthalaiaru, Kalakkad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve, Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu, 18.viii.2019, RB & KAS leg.; (e) P. sanguinostigma male [NCBS-PZ975] Kallar, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, 29.iv.2014, SJ leg.; (g) P. sanguinostigma female [NCBS-QA008], Pandimotta, Shendurney WLS, Kollam, Kerala, 4.v.2014, SJ leg.

FIGURE 22. Comparison of caudal appendages of Protosticta spp. from the Western Ghats of India (scale: 0.5 mm, dorsal view).

FIGURE 23. Maps depicting the known distribution of Protosticta spp. in Western Ghats of India. (a) P. cyanofemora sp. nov., P. myristicaensis sp. nov., P. sholai sp. nov.; (b) P. hearseyi, P. ponmudiensis, P. rufostigma; (c) P. antelopoides, P. gravelyi, P. mortoni; (d) P. davenporti, P. monticola, P. sanguinostigma.