A LIST OF THE DRAGONFLIES RECORDED FROM 

 THE INDIAN EMPIRE WITH SPECIAL REFER- 

 ENCE TO THE COLLECTION OF THE 

 INDIAN MUSEUM. 



Part V. The Subfamily Gomphinar. 



By F. F. Laidlaw, M.A., M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P. 



With an Appendix 



By F. C. Fraser, Major, I. MS. 



Contents. 



Pagk 

 Introduction... ... ... ... ... ... 367 



I. ist of species .. ... ... ... ... 369 



Systematic notes, with description of new species ... ... 372 



Appendix ... ... ... ... ... ... 415 



Introduction. 



In 1907 Williamson published an account of the Gompbines 

 of Burma and Lower Siam (see literature) in which he gave the 

 first systematic review of the Gomphine fauna of the Oriental 

 Region that has been attempted. Up to the present day no other 

 account of this fauna as a whole has been published. 



There are very considerable difficulties to be faced in making 

 >uch a review, difficulties that may be defined aS the results of two 

 sets of circumstances. Firstly, the subfamily as a whole shows a 

 remarkably small range of important venational differences and, as 

 it is on venation that systematic writers have so largely depended, 

 this has not unnaturally resulted in a lack of clearness in the 

 'lefinition of major series and even of genera in the subfamily. 

 It has also resulted in the necessity of using for specific charac- 

 ters those other than venational — characters in many cases con- 

 fined to or drawn from a single sex ; hence it has come about that 

 the identification of specimens is at times a laborious matter, 

 indeed sometimes impossible without the examination of type- 

 specimens. Secondly, these insects are usually rare, in collections 

 at any rate, the sexes are not often taken together and specimens 

 are frequently teneral or damaged ; these factors depend probably 

 rather on the habits of the insects than on any real scarcity. At 

 any rate it is for this reason difficult to obtain adequate material 

 in manv cases. 



