INDIAN DRAGONFLIES, 489 



Wings short and moderately broad, usually broadly coloured or marked with 

 black or brownish black ; the costa, about midway between the base and the 

 node, with a shallow notch ; trigone in the forewing slightly distal to the line 

 of the trigone in the hind ; sectors of the arc in the forewing either separated 

 or more often very shortly fused, in the hind a somewhat longer fusion ; arc 

 between the 1st and 2nd antenodal nervures ; 8th nervure in the hindwing 

 arising from the anal angle of the trigone ; trigone in the hindwing at the arc 

 or a shade distal to it ; 10| to 12| antenodal nervures, the last incomplete ; 

 cubital nervures variable, either 1 in both wings or several ; usually supple- 

 mentary nervures to the bridge ; trigone in the forewing broad, traversed, 

 often several times, its relation to the hypertrigone rather more than a right 

 angle ; trigone in the hindwing traversed often several times, its outer side 

 concave ; hypertrigones variable, often traversed several times in the forewing, 

 less so in the hind ; 4th nervure flatly convex ; 1 to 2 rows of cells between 5 

 and 5a ; 8th nervure in the hindwing strongly concave and therefore the dis- 

 coidal field at the termen widely dilated ; 3 to 4 rows of discoidal cells ; anal 

 field of the hindwing broad, with a long loop whose midrib is nearly straight 

 and the outer angle very obtuse and with or without split cells. The cells 

 between the base and the loop distinctly arranged in rows. Stigma large. 

 Membrane medium sized. 



27. Palpopleura sexmaculata, Brauer. 



Libellula sexmaculata, Fabricius, Rambur, Neur, 1842, Burmeister. 



Expanse 40 mm. Length 23 mm. 



Male : head ; eyes brown above, olivaceous at sides and beneath ; vesicle and 

 upper part of epistome and frons a brilliant metallic green ; lower part of 

 epistome, labrum and labium a pale yellow ; occiput olivaceous. 



Prothorax ochreous with brown borders. 



Thorax a warm brown on dorsum, bordered outwardly by a black, irregular, 

 humeral line ; the sides a pale greeny yellow, almost white and bearing 

 two black lines, the anterior incomplete above and approximating obliquely 

 towards the posterior. 



Abdomen a pale sky blue, the sides of first two segments pale yellow and the 

 dorsum of the first brownish. 



Wings short and comparatively broad, hyaline and saffronated palely as far 

 out as stigma where this colour is deepest; a postnodal, costal spot in the 

 forewing covering 1 to 2 cells, a dark streak in the postcostal space extending 

 more than half way to the node and often overlapping, outwardly into the 

 anterior costal space ; a black spot lying between the sectors of the arc and 

 an irregular triangular spot at the base occupying the cubital space and anal 

 triangle posterior to it and about half of the proximal part of trigone. Stigma 

 very large, black with a bluish middle. The black markings vary consi- 

 derably in opposite wings and in individual species. Legs brownish, tibiai 

 yellow on extensor surface. 



Female : head similar to male but vesicle and frons are brown, not metallic. 

 Prothorax and thorax similar to male. 



Abdomen ochreous, this colour deepest and richest along the sides ; a fine 

 middorsal line, broadening posteriorly, a broad subdorsal stripe, the inter- 

 segmental joints and the borders finely, black. 



Wings very similar to those of the male but the hind deeply saffronated as 

 far out as apex and the fore at the base and about the postnodal spot. 



The black markings more extensive and extending on to hypertrigone in 

 both wings. 



Hab. Shillong, Pusa, Ceylon, Malabar, usually a very local insect. 



