CHECKLIST OF ODONATA SPECIES IN PENCH TIGER RESERVE, NAGPUR, MAHARASHTRA, CENTRAL INDIA

Pench tiger reserve, Maharashtra is located in central Indian landscape and is a rich biodiverse area with good habitat for flora and fauna. The dragonflies and damselflies were recorded and photographed by author during regular field patrolling in area. This was the first attempt of recording odonata diversity from the area where 44 species were documented. Sub order Anisoptera represented by 3 families and 28 species while Sub order Zygoptera with 3 families and 16 species. (Pench Tiger reserve, Maharashtra, Central Indian landscape, Odonata, Dragonflies, Damselflies).

Pench tiger reserve, Maharashtra is located in central Indian landscape and is a rich biodiverse area with good habitat for flora and fauna. The dragonflies and damselflies were recorded and photographed by author during regular field patrolling in area. This was the first attempt of recording odonata diversity from the area where 44 species were documented. Sub order Anisoptera represented by 3 families and 28 species while Sub order Zygoptera with 3 families and 16 species. (Pench Tiger reserve, Maharashtra, Central Indian landscape, Odonata, Dragonflies, Damselflies).

Introduction:-
India has a unique and exceptionally rich and wide-ranging flora and fauna, and Central India is known for its distinctive and varied geographical features like topography, soil, climate and vegetation. Almost, the whole of Central India lies on the Peninsular Plateau. Hill ranges like Vindhya, Satpura, Maikal and river basins of Pench, Narmada, Wainganga located in the region and support a unique and varied flora and fauna. From wildlife conservation viewpoint the area is mainly known for large mammalian fauna such as tiger, leopard and their prey animals followed by the avian community. Insects belonging to the Odonata order have been studied from the perspective of ecological indicators, and many studies show that certain species exhibit high association with particular habitats ( The main objective of this study has been conduct preliminary observations of odonata diversity and carried out the checklist, occurrence and richness inhibiting the Pench tiger reserve, Maharashtra.

Material And Methods:-
The observations recording and photographing of odonata species has been done for a period of 5 years from June, 2015 to July, 2020 in irregular manner with visual encounter method. The odonata species were noticed and recorded during the regular patrolling of the area. The area is regularly surveyed for odonota in all the major habitats in all seasons. On the basis of the frequency of sighting, the species were assigned categories of abundance as rare when encountered less than 10% of visits, Not Rare when encountered 10 to 25% of visits, common when encountered 25 to 50% of visits and the others were as Very common.

Result:-
This is the first attempt to document the odonata diversity of the pench tiger reserve, Maharashtra where a total of 40 species were documented during the study period where Sub order Anisoptera represented by 3 families and 24 species while Sub order Zygoptera with 3 families and 16 species. (Table No. -1) Among families of Ansioptera sub-order, Libellulidae is dominant with 22 species belonging to 15 genera while family Aeshnidae was represented by only one genus and 2 species. In Zygoptera sub-order, Family Coenagrionidae was dominant with 6 genera while family Lestidae represented by only species Lestus umbrinus. The checklist of dragonflies and their occurrence is as follows:

Conclusion:-
In the current study altogether 44 species of dragonflies and damselflies were reported from the Pench Tiger reserve area of Maharashtra. The survey was mainly conducted in eastern side of Pench tiger reserve and in Forested area. As per study 4 species, 2 from each sub order are found rare while 11 as Not Rare, 13 as Common while 15 species were Very common in area. The paddy fields and non-forest area may have some more species which needs to be studied further.