v11i1.276

ISSN: 1800-427X (printed)
eISSN: 1800-427X (online)
DOI:10.47605/tapro.v11i1.276

Submitted date: 10 September 2021
Accepted date: 4 May 2022
Published date: 23 May 2022
Pp. 35–37, Pl. 9.

Rediscovery of Anisogomphus ceylonicus (Odonata: Gomphidae) based on its larva

A.P. Sumanapala*, T. Ranasinghe & D. Sumanapala
*Corresponding author. E-mail: apsumanapala@gmail.com

Anisogomphus ceylonicus (Hagen in Selys, 1878) is one of the rarest of the Sri Lankan Odonata. It was first discovered from Ramboda over 140 years ago based on a female specimen, which was originally described as Gomphus ceylonicus and later assigned to the genus Heliogomphus by F. C. Fraser. Almost a century later, Lieftinck (1971) collected an immature male and its exuvia of a clubtail dragonfly from Rambukpath Oya, 10 miles northwest of Hatton in 1962 and described as Anisogomphus solitaris. However, Bedjanič & van der Poorten (2013) recognized that H. ceylonicus is conspecific with A. solitaris, and thus reassigned it to the genus Anisogomphus. Since the discovery of the species, only these two records have ever been documented, despite odonatological surveys and numerous biodiversity explorations conducted on the island.

Section Editor: Tosaphol S. Keetapithchayakul