Coeliccia natgeo damselfly (Photo: baonongnghiep) The flying insect is classified as the eighth species of the hayashii-group, which is endemic to Vietnam.
It inhabits in dry areas away from brooks, and is difficult to find, which is different from other species in the Coeliccia genus.
In a short survey of some areas in Vu Quang National Park in Ha Tinh province’s Huong Son district conducted in July 2018, Dr. Phan Quoc Toan from Duy Tan University collected specimens he believed to be of a new species. It was named after the US’s National Geographic Society which sponsored the survey.
In May 2019, Toan and other researchers unexpectedly found some male individuals of the species in Pu Mat. A year later, they recorded its presence in several areas of Vu Quang.
After gaining sufficient data and specimens, they announced the discovery of the species – whose full name is Coeliccia natgeo Phan, Ngo, Toan & Tuan, 2020 - with the holotype collected from Khe Nhop area in Vu Quang National Park.
It differs from other members by its males lacking antehumeral stripes, spots, and pruinosity on the synthorax and its females having the central part of the posterior pronotal lobe reduced to a small projection.
Via this study, the habitat of the Coeliccia hayashii group was confirmed to extend to the northern part of the central region. Species in this group were previously recorded only in the Central Highlands and Bach Ma National Park in central Thua Thien-Hue province./.
VNA
