Less than 15 mm in length Sichuan found the smallest known individual dragonfly in the world

Chengdu, 23 Nov (Xinhua) -- Recently, Zhao Li, director of the Chengdu Huaxi Insect Museum, found that among a batch of dragonfly specimens collected by the museum from the Jinkouhe District of Leshan, Sichuan province in August this year, there was the world's smallest dragonfly species, the pygmy red dragonfly, which was the first time that the species had been recorded in Sichuan. The smallest known dragonfly individual in the world has also been found in this batch of specimens, with a body length of less than 15 mm.

Zhao Li introduced that the pygmy red dragonfly is recognized by the world as the smallest dragonfly species, mainly distributed in Southeast Asia and the tropical regions of southern China, and is the "dwarf" among dragonflies. According to the "Chinese Dragonfly Atlas" and academic data published in Japan, South Korea and other places, they are 17 to 19 mm long, of which the average body length of male adults is 18.5 mm and the female is 17.5 mm.

"The smallest recorded before was 17 mm, but the average length of the males was only 16.5 mm for the males and 16 mm for the females, which was significantly smaller than the populations in other regions. The smallest male adult is less than 15 mm long and is currently known to be the smallest dragonfly individual in the world. Zhao Li said.

Zhao Li analyzed that this population of pygmy red dragonflies is currently known to be the northernmost distribution record of the species in China, and it is likely to be a separately evolved population. The Jinkouhe District of Leshan, Sichuan, where it was found, has a special geographical environment and belongs to the alpine canyon landform, the highest mountain range on both sides of the canyon is more than 3,000 meters above sea level, but in the bottom area of the canyon at an altitude of 500 meters to 800 meters, there is an islandic tropical environment, so that this dragonfly originally distributed in the tropics can breed here. At the same time, due to alpine barriers, this population cannot communicate with other regional populations, so it evolves independently and forms a different body shape from other populations. (End)