An international team of entomologists has described a new species of dragonfly from Annamense Mountains in eastern Cambodia and southern Laos.
Asiagomphus reinhardti. Image credit: Oleg E. Kosterin / Naoto Yokoi / TU Dresden.
The newfound species, named Asiagomphus reinhardti, is about 2.4 inches (6 cm) long.
It lives close to mountain streams in a remote border region between Cambodia and Laos.
“So far, only male specimens are known: a black body with yellow spots and green eyes,” the scientists said.
“As a larva they live for numerous year dug in the mud bottom.”
The species is named in honor of Prof. Klaus Reinhardt, a biologist at the Technische Universität Dresden, Germany.
“Having a newly discovered animal or plant species named after oneself is one of the most beautiful awards for a biologist,” Prof. Reinhardt commented.
“I’m extraordinarily honored, for sure, but there are a lot of other dragonfly researchers who would have deserved this award before me.”
Research describing the new species is published online in the journal Zootaxa.
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Oleg E. Kosterin & Naoto Yokoi. 2016. Asiagomphus reinhardti sp. nov. (Odonata, Gomphidae) from eastern Cambodia and southern Laos. Zootaxa, vol. 4103, no. 1; doi: 10.11646/zootaxa.4103.1.3
