Protosticta fraseri Kennedy, 1936

Joshi, Shantanu, Sarkar, Vivek, Sawant, Dattaprasad, Pawar, Ujwala & Kunte, Krushnamegh, 2024, Description of Protosticta khasia sp. nov. and Yunnanosticta siangi sp. nov., with new records of P. samtsensis Gurung & Phan, 2023 from Northeast India (Odonata: Zygoptera: Platystictidae), Zootaxa 5448 (3), pp. 348-370 : 350-352

Protosticta fraseri Kennedy

( Fig. 2 )

Comments. Kennedy (1936) described this species based on three males and one female which were part of “a small shipment of purchased dragonflies collected by U. Nissor Singh in Assam, India during February, and March, 1935”. No precise locality was mentioned in the original description (Assam referred to a large area of NE India during that era) and since then no further records have been published of the species. Kennedy (1936) mentions that the types were deposited in Ohio State University. Garrison et al. (2003) published a list of name-bearing types of Odonata in the University of Michigan Museum in which they included the holotype of P. fraseri . We could retrieve photos of holotype male from the University of Michigan-Museum of Zoology, which are reproduced here with permission.

Diagnosis

From other Protosticta spp. in Eastern Himalaya and NE India P. fraseri can be distinguished by the form of male caudal appendages, especially the shape of paraprocts which are thin and curved, ending in a sharply pointed apex ( Fig. 2d–e ). Males of all other species in NE India have complex, lobed paraproct. The female and male have a characteristic dark thorax with a vaguely defined pale stripe (unique among known congeners in NE India), and S3–7 with medio-lateral white stripe and basal white rings ( Fig. 2 ).

Protosticta fraseri is comparable to P. grandis Asahina in overall morphology, size as well as the shape and color of caudal appendages. Protosticta grandis can be differentiated from P. fraseri by a prominent lateral thoracic stripe (no lateral thoracic stripe in P. fraseri ) ( Fig. 2c ), inner border of cerci more straight (sinuous in P. fraseri ) and bulkier cerci apex ( Phan & Kompier 2016).

Figures

FIGURE 2. Protosticta fraseri holotype male (UMMZI-199248): (a) lateral habitus; (b–c) thorax: (b) dorsal view; (c) lateral view; (d–e) caudal appendages: (d) dorsal view; (e) lateral view. Photo Courtesy: K. Eldredge / Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan.