INDIAN DRAGONFLIES, 53 



Expanse in both sexes 90 mm. Length 50 mm. 



Male: head; eyes deep reddish brown above, lilaceous at the sides and 

 beneath ; vesicle yellow ; occiput olivaceous : forehead brilliant crimson, 

 with a fine, well-defined, black, basal line; bright red above, paler yellow 

 below ; labrum yellow; labium brownish. 



Prothorax olivaceous yellow. 



Thorax ochreous on the dorsum, where it is thickly covered with short, 

 light brown hairs, paler at the sides and a bluish or yellowish green, marked 

 with two oblique, black stripes placed close together and often confluent 

 at their middles. A black humeral stripe often present, incomplete below 

 or connected by a fine black line to the black on the under surface of the 

 fore part of thorax. 



Abdomen rust red, with black annules as far as the 6th, at the distal end 

 of each segment. These annules widening laterally and occasionally 

 incomplete on the dorsum ; black spots on the dorsal surface of the 

 7th to 10th segments, each of those bearing a fine, clear white annule at 

 its proximal border. Some specimens especially those caught during the 

 rains, have the abdomen a brilliant red. Legs black, the armature brown. 



Wings hyaline. A basal marking in the hindwings, consisting of a golden 

 yellow background in which lie two, dark brown, irregular spots. The yellow 

 area extending as far as the middle of trigone, nearly as far as the 2nd 

 antenodal, as far as the midrib of loop and thence somewhat obliquely to 

 the termen but not reaching the tornus or anal margin. The anterior 

 brown spot begins in the cubital space and extends out to trigone and 

 backwards for about one cell's breadth into loop ; the posterior is separated 

 from the anterior by about one cell's breadth and extends obliquely 

 towards the tornus, being a little constricted at its middle. The nervures 

 in this spot are golden yellow and contrast well with the dark ground 

 colour. Antenodal nervures 11^. Membrane white. Stigma mahogany 

 red ; that of the hindwing about two-thirds the size of the fore. 



Female very similar to the male. Eyes and face without the red, 

 olivaceous or yellowish, the cap of the eyes being brown. Thorax similar 

 to the male. Abdomen, segments 2 to 7 Ught olive brown, with complete 

 distal, black rings, the remaining segments blackish brown. 



Basal marking in hindwing more extensive, the yellow extending as far 

 as the 3rd antenodal and outer end of trigone. 



Sexual organs as for genus. 



Hab. — Throughout Continental India and extending into Thibet in the 

 North, and to Ceylon southwards. Burma and Indo-Malay. This insect 

 is usually found hovering over tanks in which it breeds or wandering in the 

 near neighbourhood, generally ascending to great heights. On some days, 

 during the rains in Bombay, the air is seen to be full of them, often in 

 company with pantala whose flight they rival in gracefulness. I once took 

 a male specimen of this insect about forty miles oft" the Kathiawar coast on 

 board a liner so that it probably has strong migratory instincts. 



68. Tramea limbata, race similata, Rambur. 



Tramea limbata, Kirby. Tramea rosenbergi, Brauer, 



Libellula limbata, Desjar- Tramea transmarhia, Brauer. 



dins. Tramea samoensis, Brauer. 



Libellula incerta, Rambur. Tramea eurybia, Selys, 



Tramea incerta, Brauer. Tramea euri/ale, Selys. 



Libellula mauriciana,BTa.\ieT. Tramm continentalis^ Selys. ^ 



Libellula similata, Rambur. Tramea limbata continentalis, Ris. 



Tramea simil ta, Brauer. Tramea translucida, Kirby. 



Libellula stylata, Rambur. Tramea madagascariensis, Kirby. 



Tramea sfylata, Brauer. 



