Azuragrion granti

Summary

Azuragrion granti, the Socotra bluet or Grant's bluet, is a species of narrow-winged damselfly in the family Coenagrionidae. It is endemic to Socotra in the Indian Ocean. It is a member of the narrow-winged damselfly family Coenagrionidae with its closest relatives originating in Africa, for example Azuragrion nigridorsum.

Azuragrion granti
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Odonata
Suborder: Zygoptera
Family: Coenagrionidae
Genus: Azuragrion
Species:
A. granti
Binomial name
Azuragrion granti
(McLachlan, 1903)
Synonyms[2]

Ischnura granti McLachlan, 1903

Description edit

Azuragrion granti is, typically for narrow-winged dragonflies, a largely blue damselfly with black markings on top of the head, black stripes along the thorax and on the upper part of the abdomen which is paler underneath. It has narrow, transparent wings it holds vertically over their body when it is at rest.[3]

Distribution edit

Endemic to the island of Socotra, part of Yemen where it occurs mostly in the eastern granitic, mountainous half of the island over an area of 550 km²[4] in the Hagheir Mountains. Azuragrion granti apparently does not occur the karstic western half of Socotra as there are few open freshwater bodies to be found there.[5]

Habitat edit

The natural habitats of Azuragrion granti are rivers, intermittent freshwater lakes, freshwater marshes, and ponds. It is threatened by habitat loss although said to be locally abundant. This species breeds in mountain running water.[1] Nothing is known about the biology of this species.[6]

Conservation status edit

There has been a decline in the quality of the habitat available to Azuragrion granti due to water extraction and pollution, and this has also been observed in the lowlands where the rapidly developing tourism industry concentrates. As a result, Azuragrion granti is therefore listed as near-threatened species. Due to its endemicity and the small range of the species, any future predicted impacts by infrastructure development on Socotra will almost certainly have negative effects.[5]

References edit

  1. ^ a b Schneider, W.; Samraoui, B.; Boudot, J.-P. (2018). "Azuragrion granti". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2018: e.T60286A75346501. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-1.RLTS.T60286A75346501.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. ^ Martin Schorr; Martin Lindeboom; Dennis Paulson. "World Odonata List". University of Puget Sound. Archived from the original on 28 August 2010. Retrieved 11 August 2010.
  3. ^ "Coenagrionidae - Pond Damselflies". New Hampshire Public Television. Retrieved 2016-11-08.
  4. ^ "Azuragrion granti". Encyclopedia of Life. Retrieved 2016-11-07.
  5. ^ a b Schneider, W.; Samraoui, B.; Boudot, J.-P. (2018). "Azuragrion granti". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2018: e.T60286A75346501. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-1.RLTS.T60286A75346501.en. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
  6. ^ "Socotran Invertebrates Introducing the Dragonflies on Socotra". Socotra Governance and Biodiversity Project. Retrieved 2016-11-08.