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).
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Reference
The Indian Express | Yellow-tailed Ashy Skimmer
