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Agrion 24(1) - January 2020
AGRION
NEWSLETTER OF THE WORLDWIDE DRAGONFLY ASSOCIATION
PATRON: Professor Edward O. Wilson FRS, FRSE
Volume 24, Number 1 January 2020
Secretary and Treasurer: W. Peter Brown, Hill House, Flag Hill, Great Bentley, Colchester CO7 8RE. Email: wda.secretary@gmail.
com.
Editors: Keith D.P. Wilson. 18 Chatsworth Road, Brighton, BN1 5DB, UK. Email: kdpwilson@gmail.com.
Graham T. Reels. 31 St Anne’s Close, Badger Farm, Winchester, SO22 4LQ, Hants, UK. Email: gtreels@gmail.com.
ISSN 1476-2552
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Agrion 24(1) - January 2020
6th DragonflySouthAsia Meeting
Pankaj Koparde1*, Neha Mujumdar2, Parag Rangnekar3, Amila Sumanapala4
1School of Ecology, Faculty of Social Innovation, Partnership, & Co-creation,
MIT World Peace University, Kothrud, Pune, Maharashtra, India
2Bombay Natural History Society, Hornbill House,
Shaheed Bhagat Singh Road, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
3Foundation for Environment Research & Conservation, No. 407, III-A,
Susheela Seawinds, Alto-Vaddem, Vasco-da-Gama-403 802, Goa, India
4Colombo University, Colombo, Sri Lanka
*correspondence to [pankajkoparde@gmail.com]
The 6th DragonflySouthAsia Meet in
association with DragonflySouthAsia,
South Asian Council of Odonatology,
DiversityIndia, and Sindhudurg Wetland
Committee was conducted in Dhamapur
village of Sindhudurg district of
Maharashtra during 10th - 13th October
2019. Situated in the heart of the town,
Dhamapur Lake (16.0414 N, 73.5923
E, 16 m asl) is an ancient human-made
lake that is over 400 years old. The
lake was built primarily for irrigation
purposes, and the forest surrounding
the lake was grown specifically to
provide timber for building ships for the
navy in the era of King Shivaji. Today,
the Lake has become vulnerable to the
pollution and ill effects of beautification.
Hence there is an urgent need to work
towards conservation of this habitat.
Realizing the conservation needs of the
region, DragonflySouthAsia meeting
was held in Dhamapur to document
local biodiversity as well as educate the
masses about dragonflies. In total, 24
participants from India and Sri Lanka
attended the meeting.
Habitats Surveyed
Dhamapur village and surroundings host
a diversity of habitats such as tropical
moist deciduous and semi-evergreen
forest, low elevation lateritic plateaus,
seasonal and perennial forest streams,
paddy fields, and grasslands. During the
four-day-long meeting and workshop,
we covered static water bodies such as
lakes, marshlands and lotic systems such as streams feeding to the local rivers. On day one, participants surveyed
different areas of the lake such as moist deciduous, marshes, and streams along one bank and paddy fields and
open grassland areas on the other side (Figures 3, 4). In the following days, we covered streams fed by the lake,
Thakurwadi Lake, and streams feeding into Kasartaka River (Figure 5). Night trails were also conducted for
herpetofauna and nocturnal birds.
The success of the meet was on various scales this year. In all, we documented 62 species of odonates,
90 avian species, 49 butterflies, 16 species of herpetofauna, and six mammals. We could make at least 110 people
aware of the local biodiversity, especially the odonates. In the meet, we came across a few unidentified species
Figures 1-2. (1) Satellite map of Dhamapur Lake, Sindhudurg,
Maharashtra. Credit: Google Earth. (2) Dhamapur Lake and
surrounding forest.
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Agrion 24(1) - January 2020
Figures 3-6. (3) Participants of DragonflySouthAsia Meeting 2019. (4-6) School interaction by
Pankaj Koparde and Neha Mujumdar with Shivaji Vidya Mandir, Kalase school kids, Dhamapur
village kids, and school children from Eureka Science Club, Kankavli.
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5
6
4
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Agrion 24(1) - January 2020
such as one Gynacantha sp. that most resembled G.
khasiaca known from the Khasi Hills of Meghalaya
and a Platylestes cf. platystylus. Gynacantha c.f.
khasiaca (Khasi Darner) and Platylestes cf. platystylus
are probable new records for the state. All these
species were found in streams and marshy areas in
and around the lake.
Indoor Sessions
Experts studying different aspects of odonates
(dragonflies & damselflies) conducted indoor
sessions for the participants, as many of them were
beginners. Our schedule included presentations on
the introduction to odonates and field identification
on the first day so that participants were prepared
for the field observations. On day one, Pankaj
Koparde covered the introduction, evolution of
the odonates and hands-on taxonomy session, and
Parag Rangnekar took photography of odonates as
it is an essential tool for identification of species.
On the second day, Parag Rangnekar taught core
taxonomy (Figure 6), followed by a talk by Amila
Sumanapala on Sri Lankan odonates. We had also
arranged participants’ presentations in which
Vivek Chandran (Kerala), Dattaprasad Sawant
(Maharashtra), and Dheerendra Singh (Rajasthan)
presented their work. On day three, behavioural
aspects were covered by Neha Mujumdar, followed
by sessions on research methods and ethics by
Pankaj Koparde (Figure 6). On the last day, we
had detailed discussions on Odonata conservation
and the role of citizen science in conservation,
how to practice citizen science and use of mobile
apps in the same (Figure 7). This year we made
the conference highly sustainable, avoiding usage
of flex, printed material, teacups, and plastic
wrappings, bottled water, etc. We provided
e-certificates to participants, which they can print,
if required.
Outreach Programs
This year’s meet was unique as we conducted not
just the field and class sessions but also outreach
programs for local people, especially school
children. On the second day, two experts, Pankaj
Koparde and Neha Mujumdar, conducted an
outreach program for school children of Kalse
village. Nearly 70 kids from 7th to 9th standard
attended the talk in which we discussed Odonata
biology. The kids enthusiastically showed us the
odonates in the field after the discussion and were keen on learning more about them. The following day Pankaj
Koparde led another outreach session arranged by Mr. R. B. Sawant in which students from nearby villages, as
well as local people of varied age groups (20 - 80 years), took part (Figure 8). Kids from Eureka Science Club,
Kanakvali, came from the neighbouring town to participate in the outreach program.
The conservation of Dhamapur Lake is essential as many locals depend on it being a significant source
of water. Documentation of biodiversity around this lake and other parts of Dhamapur will undoubtedly help
to increase knowledge on the local biodiversity and to understand how we should channelize our efforts for its
conservation. This was a first attempt to survey and document the biodiversity of this region, focusing mainly on
odonates. Local newspapers covered the story on the same.
Figures 7-9. (7). Fieldwork interaction by Pankaj
Koparde and Neha Mujumdar with Shivaji Vidya
Mandir, Kalase school kids. (8-9) Indoor sessions in
the workshop. Pankaj Koparde explained research
methods in Odonatology (left), and Parag Rangnekar
taught hands-on taxonomy to participants (right).
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9
8
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Agrion 24(1) - January 2020
Figure 10-17. (10-11) Stream with dense canopy cover, flowing long Dhamapur Lake. (12-13)
Participants looking for odonates in marshy habitat around Dhamapur Lake. (14-15) Stream
at Kasartaka (left) and Lake at Thakurwadi (right). (16) Pseudagrion malabaricum male. Credit:
Pankaj Koparde. (17) Sindhudurg Marsh Dart (Ceriagrion chromothorax) male. Credit: Dattaprasad
Sawant.
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