Prelims: Current events of national and international events | Conservation
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At the Yamuna Biodiversity Park, Yellow-tailed Ashy Skimmer has been recorded during a recent dragonfly survey in Delhi.
It is a medium-sized dragonfly, commonly known as Blue Percher, Yellow-tailed Ashy Skimmer, Blue Pursuer and Blue Chaser.
Scientific Name -Potamarcha congener.
Appearance -The ‘yellow tail’ refers to the predominantly yellow abdomen, which bears black markings.
The ‘ashy’ refers to the thorax, which appears to be invariably pruinosed (frosted in appearance).
Characteristics
There is a distinct difference in the appearance of males and females, particularly as they mature.
Male - Adult males have a bluish, powder-like coating (pruinescence) on their thorax and the first half of their abdomen.
The face is typically olivaceous yellow, and the eyes are reddish-brown on top and bluish-gray below.
Female - The female's thorax has yellow and black stripes on the sides, and the abdomen is black with dull orange markings.
They also have prominent flaps on the sides of the eighth abdominal segment, which are used during egg-laying.
Habitat - It is commonly found near bodies of standing water, such as small ponds, marshes, and rice fields.
Distribution - Its distribution includes a wide range of countries in South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Oceania, including India, China, Australia, and Indonesia.
In India - It is found across the northern and northwestern plains.
Behavior and diet
Predatory lifestyle - As a top predator of smaller insects, it is an expert hunter, with acute vision to detect prey up to 15 meters away.
Prey - The naiads, or immature dragonflies, hunt small aquatic organisms underwater, while adults hunt small flying insects in the air.
Conservation status – IUCN - Least Concern.
Significance -Dragonflies and damselflies are bioindicators or species whose presence tracks wetland health.
Their larval stages require clean, well-oxygenated water, and both larvae and adults are voracious mosquito predators.
Quick Facts
Kalindi and Kamla Nehru Ridge together accounted for more than half the dragonfly species count in Delhi.
Delhi is known to host about 51 species of odonates (dragonflies and damselflies).
