Water Quality and Odonate Diversity in Peruvelichal Paddy Fields of Vettiyar Village in Alappuzha District of Kerala

The Present study focusses on water quality and odonate diversity of three selected sites (Pond, Stream and River) associated with Peruvelichal paddy fields of Vettiyar Village in Alappuzha district of Kerala conducted from December 2022 to May 2023, revealing the presence of 14 odonate species from 2 families, namely Family Libellulidae (11 species), and Family Coenagrionidae (3 species). The most abundant Anisopteran species was found to be Neurothemis tullia (617 individuals) and among Zygoptera, the most abundant species was Pseudagrion microcephalum (150 individuals). A categorisation of species into Very common (VC), Common (CO) Rare (RA) and Occasional (OC) based on the number of individuals recorded showed that 4 species (29%) were of very common occurrence, 5 species (36 %) were common, 3 species (21%) were rare and 2 species (14%) were occasional visitors. A total of 1086 individuals belonging to 14 Taxa were observed. Biodiversity indices such as Simpson’s index (D) (0.861),Shannon-Wiener Index (H) (2.239), Equitability Index (J) (0.8486) and Evenness Index (E), (0.6706) indicated stable environment and good distribution of odonates along the study site. Water Quality Index was highest at Site II (70.83) followed by Site I (54.19) and Site III (52.89) . Strikingly, the WQI of all three sites falls under Category III (poor Water quality). The stream was the most contaminated among the three sites. Adult female dragonflies congregate around emergent aquatic plants to lay eggs on their leaves, indicating the necessity of clean water to complete their life cycle.The study provides information on the odonate diversity of the area, which acts as the baseline data for future ecological studies highlighting the importance of preserving biodiversity and maintaining the quality of aquatic ecosystems by assessing and addressing the pollution levels in water bodies.