Ponmudi hills |ForumIAS

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Source-This post on Ponmudi hills has been created based on the article “New species of damselfly discovered in Kerala’s Ponmudi hills” published in “The Hindu” on 16 February 2024.

Why in the news?

A team of researchers has recently discovered a new species of damselfly at the Ponmudi hills in Thiruvananthapuram district of Kerala.

Description– Ponmudi means ‘Golden Hill’ or ‘Golden Peak’.

Location– It is located in the state of Kerala. It is part of the Western Ghats mountain range.

Biosphere reserve– The hills are a part of the Agasthyamalai landscape, at the southernmost tip of the Western Ghats.

Significance– These hills are biodiversity-rich, and recently the third species of damselfly has been discovered from this region.

Aspect	Details
Description	It is named Cliffside Bambootail (Phylloneura rupestris). It belongs to a group called bambootails (Because of their long abdomen that resembles bamboo stalks). There are two types of Bambootails- Cliffside Bambootail and Myristica Bambootail.
Why the species name is Cliffside Bambootail?	Cliffside Bambootail has been named because it lays eggs in the moss beds over rock cliffs. This behaviour is in contrast to that of Myristica Bambootail that lays its eggs on the surface roots of riparian trees.
Habitat	It is endemic to the Western Ghats. It has been recorded only in the area between the Nilgiri Hills and Sharavathi Valley, north of the Palghat Gap.
Significance	The discovery is significant, because for over 160 years, the genus Phylloneura was considered to be monotypic. Monotypic– It is a term used to describe a species that does not have any intra-related species or sub-species within its population. However, this discovery has repudiated the notion of Phylloneura species being monotypic.