Ten new records of Odonata for Colombia (Coenagrionidae, Aeshnidae)

Introduction

Although the knowledge of Odonata in Colombia has considerably increased in the last ten years, the dragonflies and damselflies of some areas are still poorly known. This is particularly true for most peripheral departments (Palacino‑Rodríguez et al., 2022) where collecting trips are scarce due to logistic, political, or funding problems.

The efforts of Colombian odonatologists combined with the recent peace agreement have contributed to reducing this gap of knowledge, especially in those territories previously inaccessible to researchers. Here we present ten new records of Odonata for undersampled departments such as Vaupés, Caquetá, Putumayo, Vichada, and Amazonas, as well as the more studied Antioquia and Meta. These findings increase the total number of Odonata species reported from 487 (Stand-Peréz et al., 2021; Álvarez-Álvarez et al., 2021, 2022; Bota-Sierra et al., 2022; Aristizábal-Botero et al., 2022; Florez et al., 2023) to 497 in Colombia.

Materials and methods

We examined material deposited at the Entomological Collection of the C. J. Marinkelle Natural History Museum at Universidad de los Andes (ANDES-E) in Bogotá, the Entomological Collection of Universidad de Antioquia (CEUA), and the Entomological Museum at Universidad Nacional de Colombia, sede Medellín (MEFLG), in Medellín, Colombia. The identification was carried out using taxonomic keys provided by Leonard (1977), Garrison (1999), Garrison & von Ellenrieder (2009), Garrison et al. (2010), von Ellenrieder (2013), von Ellenrieder & Garrison (2017). We elaborated the map using Geographic Information System QGIS 3.16 Hannover.

Results

Here we report ten species for the first time in Colombia, including the first record of the monospecific genus Dolonagrion. We also provide some comments about the true distribution of Acanthagrion yungarum in Colombia (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Colombian map with Odonata new occurrences: 1. Vaupés, Mitú, Cucura; 2. Caquetá, Cartagena del Chaira, (Remolinos del Caguán, Vereda Palmichales); 3. Meta, Villavicencio, Corpoica; 4. Meta, Acacías, Sector Brisas del Orotoy; 5. Putumayo, Mocoa, vereda Caliyaco; 6. Vichada, Puerto Carreño; 7. Meta, La Macarena; 8. Amazonas, Leticia, Reserva Natural Natura Park; 9. Antioquia, Chigorodó.

Neuraeschna mayaBelle, 1989

Specimens examined: 1 female. Colombia, Antioquia, Chigorodó, 7°39’56.3’’N 76°41’15.8’’W, 34 m.a.s.l., 11-4-1997, M. López leg, MEFLG 22495.

This species was known so far from Honduras and Costa Rica in Central America (Belle, 1989) and Ecuador in South America (Mauffray & Tennessen, 2019). Here we record it in the northwestern region of Colombia, in the biogeographic Chocó lowlands, where it was expected to inhabit according to its known distribution.

Figure 2: New Odonata species recorded for Colombia. Coenagrionidae: a) Acanthagrion amazonicum Vaupés; b) A. truncatum Meta; c) A. yungarum Putumayo.

Figure 3: New Odonata species recorded for Colombia. Coenagrionidae: a) Dolonagrion fulvellum (male) Caquetá; b) D. fulvellum (female) Caquetá; c) Mesoleptobasis cantralli Caquetá; d) Metaleptobasis lillianae Meta; e) Protoneura klugi Amazonas.

Discussion

The increased richness of Odonata in Colombia is expected when contextualized geopolitically, since neighboring countries (with similar size) are better sampled. Venezuela (525 spp) and Peru (553 spp) have more than 500 species of odonates recorded in their territories (Hoffman, 2009; Vivas-Santeliz & De Marmels, 2017), and even Ecuador, which is almost four times smaller than Colombia, has a list of 425 species of odonates (Mauffray & Tennessen, 2019), while the last official checklist for Colombia, published in 2011, recorded 335 species (Pérez-Gutiérrez & Palacino-Rodríguez, 2011). The 162 new records in the past decade show two important elements: first, a significant increase in odonate research and sampling efforts; and second, that there is still work to be done before having a complete inventory for these insects in Colombia.

The new records of species in Colombia can be divided into two categories: 1) new species for science, which are usually endemic; and 2) species previously described in neighboring countries that are recorded for the first time in Colombia. The records registered here belong to the second category. In the last decade, we can find 26 new species described for Colombia (Paulson et al., 2022) and 136 new records of species from other countries. These discoveries range across different geographical regions, from the most explored areas, such as the Magdalena Valley (Williamson, 1918, Bota-Sierra & Novelo Gutiérrez, 2020), to the most unexplored ones, such as the Páramos (Bota-Sierra, 2014), the biogeographic Chocó (Amaya-Vallejo & Novelo-Gutiérrez, 2012; Amaya-Vallejo et al., 2017, 2021; Pérez-Gutiérrez, 2012, 2019; Bota-Sierra et al., 2019, 2022), or the Amazon (Aristizábal-Botero et al., 2022; Bota-Sierra et al., 2015; Stand-Pérez et al., 2021). This shows that taxonomic work, far from being over, is fundamental to the inventory of Colombian odonates, no matter how “well sampled” the regions are.

Some of the new records in this work had been deposited in entomological collections for a long time. Neuraeschna calverti, for example, was collected 25 years ago and had to wait until recently for a taxonomist to examine and assign a name to it. The latter speaks about the importance of collection based taxonomic work and the support of our museums. Colombian biodiversity inventories rely on three basic activities to be successful: 1) sampling in the field, 2) curating, and 3) identifying the material in the museum’s collections. Finally, the results should be made publicly available, but most of the times taxonomists fail to follow these critical steps.

In conclusion, our findings contribute to expand the understanding of Odonata biodiversity and its distribution in Colombia. Moreover, it reinforces the need to increase taxon sampling efforts not only in understudied areas but also in well-sampled departments, where new records are to be found. We also highlight the importance of collection-based curatorial work to account for odonate biodiversity since several specimens are deposited but have not been identified. The geographical, ecological, and taxonomical data generated are important to stimulate research and develop stronger conservation strategies for our species and freshwater ecosystems within the country and region.