Some Gomphidae and their larvae, chiefly from the Malay Peninsula (Odonata)

During a nine week's sojourn in the Malay Peninsula, from February 12 until April 22, 1963, I have been able to acquaint myself with the insect fauna of that country and to make a special study of the Odonata and their larvae. The present account is the first of a series dealing with the results of this collecting expedition. It merely contains descriptions and illustrations of a few new and insufficiently known species of Gomphidae; more of these pertaining to the same family will, it is hoped, soon follow. The rich and varied supply of material accumulated during the Malayan trip forms the basis of this study, but specimens from other sources are incorporated wherever this was found appropriate or necessary. Thus it includes re-descriptions of types in the British Museum collection (BM) and the University Museum of Michigan, Ann Arbor (UMMZ), as well as notes on some valuable larval forms collected in the Plus River area (Perak) given to me long ago by Mr. M. W. F. Tweedie, at one time director of the Raffles Museum, Singapore. More recently, interesting samples of larvae from Johore and Pahang, collected for the Department of Zoology, University of Singapore, were sent to me for study by Dr. D. S. Johnson and his assistants. In this paper only passing mention is made of the habits, local distribution and larval development of the Odonata. Several more will be reared and information on the life-history obtained under natural conditions in the field, will be supplied by my companion, Mr. J. I. Furtado, of the Zoology Department, University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur. Attention will be paid by him in particular to various aspects of the natural history of Malayan dragon flies in connexion with ecological factors. The following species are discussed in this paper :