- An evolutionary ecologist, Pankaj Koparde’s research has shed light on a group of predatory flying insects that tends to lie outside of public discourse.
- In the first comprehensive field study of odonates in the Western Ghats, Koparde and team documented 143 species, accounting for approximately 65% of the region’s known diversity.
- Koparde expects that India will describe 50 more species of dragonflies and damselflies in the coming years, as research improves in quantity and quality.
“One third of India’s dragonflies likely extinct”, “Scientists sound alarm”, “35% drop in populations”. These were some of the headlines in the media over the last month, following the publication of the first-ever comprehensive study on odonates in the Western Ghats.
Odonates are a group of predatory flying insects that includes dragonflies and damselflies. A taxon that otherwise rarely gets any press coverage was suddenly speculated to be going extinct.
Pankaj Koparde, who leads the Chatur Ullu Lab in Pune, Maharashtra, which — as the name suggests — works on dragonflies (chatur in Marathi) and owls (ullu in Hindi), is the lead author of the paper. He is also an assistant professor at the MIT World Peace University in Pune.
Mongabay-India met the researcher, who has extensively worked on this lesser-known taxon over the last decade and a half, to learn more about odonates and their conservation status in the subcontinent.
In this interview, edited for clarity and length, Koparde introduces us to the fascinating world of dragonflies and damselflies, the growing citizen-science movement behind these tiny hunters, and what lies ahead for this understudied taxon.
Mongabay: What would you tell someone if you were to pique their curiosity about dragonflies?
Koparde: Dragonflies are one of the most ancient insect groups to take flight. Many of us would have childhood memories of playing with them. You will observe them mostly near wetlands. They are also good ecological indicators. Some species indicate good water, while others indicate polluted water. So, if you see a dragonfly, depending on the species, you can be sure of the water quality in the area.
Of course, they sport beautiful colours and come in different shapes and sizes, but their flight capabilities are even more fascinating. They have four wings, and each wing has a different set of muscles. Similar to a four-wheel drive, they can control each wing individually, which enables them to move in all directions — forward and backwards, and up and down. Backward motion is difficult for most insects. Most of them don’t have a “reverse gear” because of an appendage called a “halteres”. Dragonflies lack this appendage and thus, are capable of reverse flight.
Dragonflies are voracious predators that feed on other insects. As larvae under water, they feed on tadpoles, small fish and other tiny insects. As adults, they hunt mosquitoes, flies, butterflies, and even other dragonflies and damselflies. In a sense, they are the apex predators of the insect world and keep other insect populations in check.
But the most interesting thing about them is their vision and how they perceive colours. We see that dragonflies have beautiful colours, but for them, they are a signal for sexual selection. The brighter the male is, the better his health. But to understand the signal, the female must have good vision.
Dragonflies have large, compound eyes, each with around 15,000 lenses, which gives them almost 360° vision. They can also perceive a broader spectrum of light than we can. While we humans possess three opsin genes for colour vision and are trichromatic, interpreting colours in red, blue and green (RGB), dragonflies possess 15 different genes for colour vision. They must see the world as if it were Holi every day!
One last thing I would add is about their migration. So there is a species of dragonfly called the wandering glider or globe skimmer (Pantala flavescens), which migrates from India to East Africa and back to India each year. These tiny insects cover 17,000 kilometres annually, making it one of the longest insect migrations recorded on Earth.
Mongabay: There has been extensive media coverage of your latest research paper, in which you published the results of the “first-ever extensive field study” on odonates across the Western Ghats. What would you like to highlight about your findings?
Koparde: With funding from the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India, we conducted an extensive study to understand the diversity and distribution of odonates across the Western Ghats.
Over two years, we surveyed 144 sites across the five states (Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala) of the Ghats, excluding Tamil Nadu, and recovered 143 species. If we compare this with the total number of odonate species reported from the region (222), it comes out to a species recovery of 65%. But then we could not recover the remaining 35%. Why?
There are different reasons for this.
First of all, 100 of the 144 sites were in Maharashtra, and the remaining 44 sites were not uniformly distributed across the other states either. Although this disparity is due to accessibility and permissions, it is a primary reason for the gap in recovery. The second factor is seasonality. Many of the odonate species are seasonal, which may be another reason for the absence of some species in our survey results. The third aspect is rarity. Some species are just extremely rare and difficult to recover in such rapid surveys. Personally, even after so many years of searching, there are many species I’ve not yet seen.
So when the media constantly talks about “35% loss of species”, it has not considered these various factors. The truth is that we lack the baseline data to say that we have lost these many species. Yes, it is a possibility that some of them have become extinct, but it is just speculation at the moment. But now that we have created the baseline data, perhaps our team or other researchers can revisit these sites year after year and build a robust database to show that this much loss has occurred in so-and-so region for such-and-such reason.
Mongabay: You have described numerous new odonate species from the Western Ghats. Why are the southern Western Ghats in particular such a hub for endemic odonates? How many more species do you think evade description?
Koparde: Take any taxa, not just dragonflies, be it butterflies, birds or frogs, there is high endemism in the southern Western Ghats. Take Kerala, for example, from 14 sites, we recovered 83 odonate species in our survey, of which 31 were endemic. Yes, the state has a rich natural heritage, but also, unlike the central and northern Western Ghats, these habitats have not been fragmented or degraded as much.
There are also evolutionary reasons for this endemism, with the Ghats remaining isolated even after the split from Gondwana to present-day India, thereby trapping a large number of fauna, especially odonates.
India houses 500+ odonate species, which accounts for 8% of the world’s Odonata fauna, and roughly 200 species are endemic to the region.
Damselflies, in particular, are weak fliers and have largely been restricted to these high-elevation habitats. In fact, of the eight new odonate species we described from the Western Ghats, six are damselflies. In the northeast, researchers from the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS) have described more than 10 odonate species. While I cannot project how many more we might have, I think we can expect around 50 new species from across India in the coming years.
Mongabay: eBird is a great example of how citizen science can contribute to conservation. You lead the DragonflySouthAsia citizen-science group on Facebook. What role do enthusiasts have in odonate conservation?
Koparde: We have a strong Facebook community with more than 10,000 members. In our last count, until 2022, we had 13,000 observations contributed by community members. Once you filter it out, useful data comes to around 6,500 individual records. On iNaturalist, we have around 7,500 observations, which are research-grade records. So over the last 10 years, we have accumulated around 13,000 records from across India, including the Andaman and Nicobar islands. Now, if you compare that to the bird data, of course, it is miniature, but it is there, and it is growing.
Dragonflies are a difficult taxon to crack and require a basic understanding to start identifying species. In our lab, we are trying to create an eBird-equivalent for dragonflies, where a layperson can enter basic data, which has an AI-based identification module. Through the DragonflySouthAsia Facebook group, we also conduct sessions, where we provide training in basic techniques and tools in odonatology. Many of our community members have taken advantage of this and are now working across India, spreading their knowledge, so we are also seeing this ripple effect. These sessions are open to the public, so we welcome anyone interested to join.
Mongabay: How does urbanisation impact species-habitat dynamics in odonates?
Korpade: Some odonate species are extremely sensitive to changes in water quality or their microhabitat, while others can tolerate such changes. We have been studying the Mula River in Pune, and within its 50-km stretch, areas with increased urbanisation show a decline in species numbers. However, some species establish themselves in these polluted spaces, not because they prefer it, but because competition is less and they can be more successful. Two species that are very common in urban areas are the ditch jewel (Brachythemis contaminata) and the saffron-faced blue dart (Pseudagrion rubriceps). Whereas, if you go to more rural areas with better water quality, you will find the river heliodor (Libellago indica), stream ruby (Heliocypha bisignata), and more gomphids.
Mongabay: How can odonatology improve in India? What are the key challenges for researchers?
Korpade: Last year, we published a paper titled The current state of odonatology in India, in collaboration with Andrea Phillott from FLAME University, Pune, where we conducted surveys and interviews with odonate researchers. As you can imagine, the major problem researchers are facing is funding. Dragonflies and damselflies constitute a small subdomain within a lesser-known taxon, like insects, which, unfortunately, remains largely ignored in biodiversity research and conservation.
Also, in a niche space such as odonate research, it is not easy to build a career in India or abroad. The only way forward for young researchers is to network, collaborate, diversify research (taxa-specific but domain-wide), and do good work. At Chatur Ullu Lab, we do our best to mentor young researchers and guide them in their career progression. It is heartening to see the next generation pick up the baton and lead the way. So I am very hopeful that there will be more odonatological research from India in the future, and we still have so much to discover and learn from these insects.
Banner image: Pankaj Koparde, and a crimson marsh glider. Images courtesy of Chatur Ullu Lab.
Read more: Damselflies in climate distress
Credits
