XVIII. A LIST OF THE DRAGONFLIES RE- 

 CORDED FROM THE INDIAN EMPIRE 

 WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE 

 COLLECTION OF THE INDIAN 

 MUSEUM. 



Part III. — The genus lestes and its allies. 



By F. F. Laidlaw, M.A. 



(With Plate V). 



The present part concludes my account of Indian dragonflies 

 belonging to the sub-order Zygoptera. I have deliberately headed 

 it " the genus Lestes and its allies," because at the present moment 

 the precise status of the several sections into which the Zygoptera 

 naturally fall is a matter of debate ; and it is better on the whole 

 to leave the exact rank to which this very distinct group is 

 entitled, an open question. 



As the number of species is not great, and as the group is 

 fairly homogeneous, I have dealt with the systematic arrangement 

 of the species on a somewhat different plan to that adopted in m^'' 

 previous papers. With regard to geographical distribution I have 

 noted records under the heading of the several species. 



I need scarcely point out that the Indian Lestine fauna is of 

 exceptional interest, and is in all probability very imperfectly 

 known. I list here some seventeen or eighteen recorded species, 

 of which the museum collection contains twelve. 



The following table will, I hope, be of assistance in identifying 

 the Indian species of the group. At the same time it will serve to 

 express my views on the classification of its members. Putting 

 on one side Megalestes, which stands apart from the rest, I am 

 inclined to the opinion that the genera proposed for certain 

 aberrant species have probably not more than sub-generic 

 value. 



I regard the character afforded by the similarity or dissimilari- 

 ty of the quadrangle of fore and hinder wings as of the first import- 

 ance, following of course de Selys' main sub-division of the genus. 

 Tillyard's genus Austrolestes is evidently nearly equivalent to Selys' 

 "Deuxieme section," but it should be noted that it can scarcely 

 be separated on venational grounds from SymPycna. The only 

 feature separating at least some of the Australian Lestines (L. cingu- 

 lata Selys, e.g.) is the position of ^c at level of Ax^\ whereas in all 

 the Indian forms of de Selys' second section (but not in Sympycna 



