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A team of researchers have discovered a new species of damselfly at the Ponmudi hills in Thiruvananthapuram district of Kerala.
The hills are a part of the Agasthyamalai landscape, at the southernmost tip of the Western Ghats.
The Ponmudi hills are biodiversity-rich, and this is the third species of damselfly discovered from the region.
According to A. Vivek Chandran, a member of the research team, the new species, named Cliffside Bambootail (Phylloneura rupestris).
belongs to a group called bambootails, so named because of their long abdomen that resembles bamboo stalks.
Damselfly
Damselflies are graceful, slender insects belonging to the suborder Zygoptera within the order Odonata, sharing the order with their larger, more robust cousins, dragonflies.
Appearance:
Slender bodies: Unlike dragonflies, damselflies have thin, needle-like abdomens, often metallically colored in shades of blue, green, or red.
Delicate wings: Most damselflies fold their wings together vertically along their bodies when at rest, unlike dragonflies who keep them spread out flat.
Their wings are typically clear or have intricate patterns of veins.
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