1 



INDIAN DRAGONFLIES. 506 



39. Rhodothemis rufa, Bis. 1911. 



Crocothemis rufa. Van der Weele. 

 Eryihemis rufa, Brauer. 

 Libellula rufa, Rambur. 

 Orthetrum oblitum, Kirby. 

 Erythemis oblita, Brauer. 

 Libelluia oblita, Rambur, 1842. 

 Crocothemis cruentala, Hagen. 



Expanse 72 mm. Length 44 mm. 



Male : head; eyes bright red, capped at the summit -w^th brown, paler beneath; 

 forehead and upper part of epistome bright scarlet ; lower part of epistome and 

 the labrum a rich ochreous or reddish ; labium brown ; occiput reddish brown. 



Prothorax brownish red. 



Thorax reddish brown with no markings. 



Abdomen bright scarlet or vermiUion red. 



Anal appendages red. 



Wings hyaline with a dark brown spot at the base of the hindwing which 

 extends as far as the 1st antecubital nervnre and well beyond the cubital ner- 

 vure. Posteriorly this spot usually reaches the tornus. In the forewing the 

 basal spot very small and not extending as far the 1st antenodal and cubital 

 nervures. 



Juvenile males are much lighter than the adults in colour and approach 

 somewhat that of the female. 



Female : Expanse 70 mm. Length 41 mm. 



Head ; eyes reddish brown above, much paler beneath and at the sides ; vesicle 

 brown ; occiput a pale greenish yellow ; forehead the same colour ; upper part 

 of epistome black and very sharply defined from the forehead ; lower part of 

 epistome and labrum ochreous. 



Prothorax dark browli, with a pale greenish yellow, mid-dorsal stripe which 

 widens posteriorly and is continuous with a similar coloured stripe on the thorax. 



Thorax golden brown, the fore part darker. A mid-dorsal, greenish yellow 

 stripe which runs back over the interalar space and is continued posteriorly 

 with a similar coloured stripe on the fore part of the abdomen. In front, this 

 band is spUt by the mid-dorsal carina into two narrow, triangular spots, and 

 is bordered outwardly by a broad, black, humeral stripe. 



Abdomen dark golden brown, with the greenish yellow dorsal band of the 

 thorax continued on to it as far as the 4th segment and from thence represented 

 by a pair of similar coloured spots on the fore part of each segment as far as 

 the 8th or 9th. A fine, black, mid-dorsal line on the 1st to 4th segment. 



Wings as for male but the basal spot paler and its margin diffuse. Stigma 

 dark brown. 



Sexual organs of male ; lamina broad and depressed, its free border curling out- 

 wards ; tentaculse small, the mternal a robust hook, straight at the base but 

 curving outwards at the point ; the external narrow, somewhat square and of 

 about the same length as the internal ; lobe very narrow and tongue-like. 



Sexual organs of the female ; border of the 8th abdominal segment not dilated ; 

 and of 8th ventral plate forming a strongly developed, broad, projecting vulvar 

 scale which overlaps the 9th ventral plate ; the 9th narrow and projecting over 

 the 10th and furnished with a small, conical protuberance on each side. 



Hab. Western India as far North as Bombay, Ceylon. I have taken females 

 of this species in considerable numbers in Bombay during the month of Novem- 

 ber but the males were extremely rare. On the wing, the adult male is indistin- 

 guishable from 0. pruinosum or C. servilia, for both of which it is hable to be 

 mistaken. The insect frequents rank jungle in the immediate neighbourhood 

 of large tanks. 



