CarlNorfleet88 at 06:56, 24 March 2026

2026-03-24T06:56:14Z

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{{Short description|Species of damselfly}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Platysticta deccanensis - male Thommankuth (11).jpg
| image_caption = Male
| image2 = Platysticta deccanensis - female.jpg
| image2_caption = Female
| status = VU
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 20 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=Subramanian, K.A. |date=2011 |title=''Indosticta deccanensis'' |volume=2011 |article-number=e.T175200A7121240 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2011-1.RLTS.T175200A7121240.en |access-date=20 November 2021}}</ref>
| genus = Indosticta
| parent_authority = Bedjanic, 2016
| species = deccanensis
| authority = ([[Frank Fortescue Laidlaw|Laidlaw]], 1915)
| synonyms =
*''Platysticta deccanensis'' {{small|Laidlaw, 1915}}
}}

'''''Indosticta deccanensis''''',<ref name=wol>{{World Odonata List}}</ref><ref name=ifb/> the '''saffron reedtail''',<ref name=ibp/><ref name=ifb/> is a [[damselfly]] species in the [[family (biology)|family]] [[Platystictidae]]. It is [[endemic]] to [[Western Ghats]] in [[India]].<ref name="iucn status 20 November 2021" /><ref name=atlas>{{cite book |last1=K.A. |first1=Subramanian |last2=K.G. |first2=Emiliyamma |last3=R. |first3=Babu |last4=C. |first4=Radhakrishnan |last5=S.S. |first5=Talmale |title=Atlas of Odonata (Insecta) of the Western Ghats, India |date=2018 |publisher=Zoological Survey of India |isbn=978-81-8171-495-4|pages=50–51}}</ref>

This species was previously placed in the genus ''[[Platysticta]]'', but recent [[phylogenetic]] studies has revealed that the genus ''[[Platysticta]]'' is actually confined to [[Sri Lanka]]. For the South Indian species, formerly known as ''Platysticta deccanensis'', morphological and molecular analyses demonstrated that it does not belong to the Sri Lankan clade and a new genus '''''Indosticta''''' is erected to accommodate it.<ref name=Bedjanič>{{cite journal |author = Bedjanič M. |display-authors=etal | title = Taxonomy and molecular phylogeny of the Platystictidae of Sri Lanka (Insecta: Odonata) | journal = [[Zootaxa]] | volume= 4182 | issue= 1| pages = 1–80| year = 2016|doi=10.11646/zootaxa.4182.1.1 |pmid=27811665 | url=http://biotaxa.org/Zootaxa/article/view/zootaxa.4182.1.1| access-date =2017-03-13| url-access= subscription }}</ref><ref name=ifb/>

==Description and habitat==
It is a medium-sized damselfly with bluish-white face and black-capped brown eyes. Its thorax is [[cinnamon]] brown with a black mid-dorsal carina. Its wings are transparent with yellowish-red [[pterostigma]] framed in black nervures. Abdomen is dark-brown up to segment 7 and segments 8 to 9 are azure blue bordered below with black. Segment 10 is blackish-brown. Anal appendages are black.<ref name="Laidlaw">{{cite journal |last1=Laidlaw |first1=F. F. |title=Notes on Oriental Dragon-Flies in the Indian Museum---Indian Species of the 'Legion' Protoneura |journal=Rec. Indian Mus. |date=1915 |volume=11 |page=388 |url=http://faunaofindia.nic.in/PDFVolumes/records/011/05/0387-0391.pdf |access-date=24 October 2018}}</ref><ref name="Laidlaw2">{{cite journal |last1=Laidlaw |first1=F. F. |title=A list of the Dragonflies Recorded from the Indian Empire with Special Reference to the Collection of the Indian Museum---The Family Agrioninae (2) |journal=Rec. Indian Mus. |date=1917 |volume=13 |page=340 |url=http://faunaofindia.nic.in/PDFVolumes/records/013/06/0321-0348.pdf |access-date=24 October 2018}}</ref><ref name=Fraser/>

Female is similar to the male; but its thorax has a bit dark patches in the dorsum and the sides. There is a narrow ante-humeral pale blue stripe and another similar blue stripe bordering the black area of the mesepimeron. Abdomen is similar to the male; but segment 8 unmarked and segment 9 with a large oval pale blue dorso-lateral spot.<ref name="Laidlaw"/><ref name="Laidlaw2"/><ref name=Fraser/>

It is known to occur close to [[Myristica swamp]]s and streams with dense riparian vegetation. [[Frank Fortescue Laidlaw|Laidlaw]] described it from the [[Kingdom of Cochin]].<ref name="Laidlaw"/> Recent studies have found populations of this species in [[Karnataka]] too.<ref name="iucn status 20 November 2021" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Mehendale |first1=Tejas |last2=Padiyar |first2=Ajith |date=2024-12-31 |title=Northernmost record of the endemic damselfly Indosticta deccanensis (Laidlaw, 1915) (Odonata, Zygoptera, Platystictidae) from Western Ghats, Karnataka, India |url=http://entomon.in/index.php/Entomon/article/view/1345 |journal=Entomon |language=en |volume=49 |issue=4 |pages=549–552 |doi=10.33307/entomon.v49i4.1345 |issn=0377-9335|doi-access=free }}</ref> Commonly found resting on ferns in dark shady spots in forests.<ref name=Fraser>{{cite book|author=C FC Lt. Fraser|author-link=Frederic Charles Fraser|title=The Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma, Odonata Vol. I|publisher=Taylor and Francis|location=Red Lion Court, Fleet Street, London|year=1933|pages=[https://archive.org/details/FraserOdonata1/page/n137 124]–126|url=https://archive.org/details/FraserOdonata1}}</ref><ref name=Fraser-WG>{{cite book|author=C FC Lt. Fraser|author-link=Frederic Charles Fraser|title=A Survey of the Odonate (Dragonfly) Fauna of Western India with Special Remarks on the Genera Macromia and Idionyx and Descriptions of Thirty New Species|publisher=Zoological Survey of India. Volumes (Records)|year=1924|pages=498–499|url=http://faunaofindia.nic.in/PDFVolumes/records/026/05/0423-0522.pdf}}</ref><ref name=ias>{{cite book|last=Subramanian|first=K. A.|title=Dragonflies and Damselflies of Peninsular India - A Field Guide|year=2005|url=http://www.ias.ac.in/Publications/Overview/Dragonflies}}</ref><ref name=ibp>{{cite web
|url=http://indiabiodiversity.org/species/show/228092|title=Platysticta deccanensis Laidlaw, 1915|publisher=India Biodiversity Portal|access-date=2017-03-13}}</ref><ref name=ifb>{{cite web
|url=http://www.indianodonata.org/#!/sp/223/Indosticta-deccanensis|title=Indosticta deccanensis Laidlaw, 1915|publisher=Odonata of India, v. 1.00. Indian Foundation for Butterflies|access-date=2017-03-13}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of odonates of India]]
* [[List of odonata of Kerala]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Wikispecies-inline|Indosticta deccanensis}}

{{Commons category-inline|Indosticta deccanensis}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q2772981}}

[[Category:Platystictidae]]
[[Category:Monotypic Odonata genera]]
[[Category:Insects of India]]
[[Category:Insects described in 1915]]
[[Category:Damselfly genera]]

{{Coenagrionoidea-stub}}

Indosticta - Revision history

CarlNorfleet88 at 06:56, 24 March 2026