Species Discoveries
Sri Lankan Turquoise-blue Cruiser
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Sri Lanka Ornate Ground Tarantula
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Species Rediscoveries
Sri Lanka Emerald Spreadwing
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Tiger Beetle Jansenia laeticolor Horn, 1904Tiger Beetles were introduced to me by my friend Agasthya Thotagamuwa, a postgraduate student in University of Colombo at that time. Agasthya and his mentors were carrying out an islandwide tiger beetle survey and I assisted them in that task.
While conducting field work in Bundala, I photographed this particular tiger beetle and it was collected and identified by Agasthya as an endemic species not known for over 100 years despite previous islandwide surveys. This discovery was later published as a paper in the Cicindela, a journal dedicated to tiger beetle studies around the globe. This photograph is the only known living image of the species. |
Flint's Cruiser Macromia flinti Lieftinck 1977Flint’s Cruiser is one of the rarest known dragonflies in Sri Lanka. It was described in 1977 based on a single male specimen and has never been recorded during the 50 years following its original collection. Thus it was considered a globally Critically Endangered and even possibly extinct species.
We observed an ovipositing Macromia during a biodiversity survey in Dabar Estate, Deraniyagala and a closer examination of this female revealed that it agrees well with the holotype and description of Macromia flinti. Later examination of our Odonata image collection revealed more observations which we could not conclusively identify before this. The re-discovery was published with first live photographs of the species and a description of its female. |
Sri Lankan Clubtail
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