Dragonflies and Damselflies in a region of the Triângulo Mineiro, Minas Gerais: checklist and taxonomic additions

Henrique Venâncio,Marcela Silva Barbosa,Jean Carlos Santos,Diogo Silva Vilela

doi:10.1590/1676-0611-bn-2020-1182

Abstract

Abstract: Remaining freshwater systems are historically under threat mainly due to human activities such as agriculture and urbanization. The consequences of such activities are innumerous, and among them there is a decrease of suitable habitats for threatened fauna. In the Brazilian Cerrado, the odonatofauna of palm swamps and riparian forests are still poorly explored, a fact that difficult conservation efforts of the group. Thus, we performed an inventory in several urban and rural sites containing these phytophysiognomies in Uberlândia, Triângulo Mineiro region, western Minas Gerais state. In total, we found 101 Odonata species, seven families and 46 genera in the municipality, with 76 and 66 species, respectively, belonging to palm swamp and forest sites. From this diversity, eight species were first records in the state of Minas Gerais: Neuraeschna claviforcipata Martin, 1909, Phyllocycla cf. medusaBelle, 1988, Diastatops intensa Montgomery, 1940, Oligoclada pachystigma Karsch, 1890, O. xanthopleura Borror, 1931, Angelagrion nathaliaeLencioni, 2008, Telebasis sanguinalis Calvert, 1909 and Telebasis simulacrum (Calvert, 1909). We also sampled Erythrodiplax anaGuillermo-Ferreira & Vilela 2016, a species listed as endangered (EN) by the IUCN red list. Additionally, we include some taxonomic notes of Forcepsioneura machadorum females, a newly discovered species in the region. Our results contribute to the Odonata database in Brazil and highlights the importance inventories in poorly explored aquatic ecosystems.

Highlights

Freshwater systems comprise a large part of the planet’s biodiversity, being some of the most vulnerable ecosystems in the current global biodiversity crisis (Albert et al 2020)
Our study added eight new records for the state, which has 312 recorded species (Vilela 2020). This number represents the second highest Odonata richness reported to a Brazilian state, being only surpassed by Amazonas, with 335 species (Koroiva et al 2020)
The number of species in palm swamp, riparian forest and both habitats, are greater in relation to standard diversity found in others inventories in the Cerrado, which, on average, are close to 50 species (Vilela et al 2016, Barbosa et al 2019, Borges et al 2019)

Summary

Introduction

Freshwater systems comprise a large part of the planet’s biodiversity, being some of the most vulnerable ecosystems in the current global biodiversity crisis (Albert et al 2020). Surveys have helped to fill gaps for many freshwater organisms (Troia & McManamay 2017, Bolpagni et al 2018, Guerra et al 2020) as species distribution and cataloging (Wallacean and Linnean shortfalls, respectively) (Hórtal et al 2015) These shortfalls are still predominant for some threatened and little-known groups, such as aquatic insects (SánchezBayo & Wyckhuys 2019). Many odonate species are known to be endangered with the overexploitation in many regions of the country (ICMBio 2018, Araújo et al 2020) This situation has encouraged great effort in preservation measures in the last years, including inventories in priority regions (e.g., Cerrado) and species conservation categorizations (De Marco & Viana 2005, Koroiva et al 2017, Rodrigues & Roque 2017, Dalzochio et al 2018a, Bastos et al 2019, Garcia Junior et al 2021, Koroiva et al 2020, Vilela et al 2020a). More than one third of odonate fauna from Serra da Bodoquena and some regions of southeast and west of Minas Gerais could not be classified in an IUCN red list category due to data deficiency (Koroiva et al 2017, Ávila Júnior et al 2020, Vilela et al 2020a)

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Conclusion