Odonata Diversity in a Tropical Landscape of Bangladesh

Dragonflies and damselflies help to assess the wetland ecosystem’s health and serve as indicator species. A year-long study from November 2021 to October 2022 was conducted to investigate the community structure of Odonata in Tetulia sub-district (locally called ‘Upazila’), the northernmost area of Bangladesh, under five study site areas. A total of 1626 individuals belonging to 47 species consisting of 36 species of dragonflies (suborder Anisoptera) and 11 species of damselflies (suborder Zygopetra) were observed. Libellulidae was the dominant family with 28 species of dragonflies. Among five sites, site A1 shared the highest number of species (41 species, n = 508), and highest values of species diversity ( H = 3.255, Ds = 0.951 ). However, evenness ( E = 0.632 ) was the highest in the site A4. Odonates in sites between A1–A4 and A2–A5 shared more similar species. According to the observation status, 9 (19.15%) were very common, 12 (25.53%) common, 7 (14.89%) uncommon, and 18 (38.29%) were few. Among all the species, Orthetrum sabina showed the highest relative abundance (181 individuals, 11.13%). Results can be useful in understanding the importance of odonate diversity in the environment of the study area.