When their numbers drop, it could signal the potential degradation of an ecosystem
In the ancient mountain corridors of India's Western Ghats, where life has evolved in isolation for 150 million years, a two-year scientific survey has found that nearly a third of the region's dragonfly and damselfly species can no longer be accounted for. These insects, long understood as living measures of ecological integrity, are signaling through their absence what human activity has been quietly doing to one of Earth's most irreplaceable landscapes. The loss is not merely entomological — it is a warning written in wings, echoing across frogs, birds, and the broader web of endemic life that this ancient range sustains.
- A rigorous two-year survey across five Indian states found 79 dragonfly and damselfly species simply gone — some possibly rare or seasonal, others potentially extinct.
- The disappearances are not isolated: frog populations are collapsing under agricultural pressure, and twelve endemic bird species have declined by 75 percent, suggesting the entire ecosystem is under systemic stress.
- Urbanization, farming, infrastructure, mining, and invasive species are collectively overwhelming a mountain range whose endemic creatures evolved over millions of years and have nowhere else to go.
- In a gesture of deliberate alarm, researchers named a newly discovered species Protosticta armageddonia — invoking the term scientists use for the catastrophic worldwide collapse of insect populations.
- To fight back, the team is constructing a genetic library of every documented species, mapping evolutionary origins to identify which ecosystems are most irreplaceable and most urgently in need of protection.
In the misty valleys of India's Western Ghats, a two-year study has uncovered a troubling silence. Researchers catalogued 143 dragonfly and damselfly species across five states between 2021 and 2023 — but found 79 previously recorded species missing, a 35 percent decline that has alarmed the scientific community. Lead researcher Pankaj Koparde allows that some absences may reflect rarity or seasonality, but does not rule out a harder truth: that some of these species may be gone entirely.
The stakes reach far beyond the insects themselves. The Western Ghats — a 1,600-kilometer UNESCO World Heritage range along India's western coast — shelters more than 30 percent of India's plant and animal species, including at least 325 globally threatened ones. Its endemic creatures carry evolutionary histories stretching back to the fracturing of Gondwana, 150 million years ago. Dragonflies, as sensitive indicators of water and habitat quality, are sounding an alarm that other species are already confirming: frog populations are being decimated by farming practices, and a 2023 survey found twelve endemic bird species have declined by 75 percent.
The pressures are familiar and cumulative — urban sprawl, agricultural expansion, infrastructure development, mining, and invasive species — bearing down on ecosystems that evolved in a different world. To document what remains, Koparde's team hiked remote terrain before dawn, collecting specimens from mangrove swamps and moss-slicked riverbanks. Their fieldwork yielded seven species new to science, including one they named Protosticta armageddonia — a deliberate invocation of the ecological catastrophe unfolding around them.
Now the team is building a genetic library of every species documented, mapping DNA to trace evolutionary origins and identify which habitats are most critical to protect. It is painstaking, forward-looking work — an attempt to understand what the Western Ghats still hold before the window for knowing closes entirely.
In the misty valleys and moss-covered riverbanks of India's Western Ghats, something is disappearing. A sweeping two-year study across five Indian states has documented what scientists feared: nearly a third of the dragonfly and damselfly species that once thrived in this ancient mountain range have vanished.
The research, funded by India's Department of Science and Technology and conducted between 2021 and 2023, catalogued 143 species of dragonflies and damselflies currently inhabiting the Western Ghats. Of these, at least 40 exist nowhere else on Earth. But the study also uncovered an unsettling absence. Seventy-nine species that had been previously recorded in the region went unfound—a 35 percent decline that has alarmed the scientists who conducted the work. Pankaj Koparde, the evolutionary ecologist who led the research, acknowledges that some of these missing species may simply be rare or seasonal, eluding the team's careful searches. But he does not shy from a darker possibility: some of them may no longer exist at all.
The significance of this loss extends far beyond the insects themselves. Dragonflies and damselflies function as living barometers of ecological health. When their populations contract, the message is clear—the environment that sustains them is degrading. The Western Ghats, a 1,600-kilometer mountain range stretching along India's western coast and designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, harbors more than 30 percent of India's plant and animal species. At least 325 globally threatened species call this region home. The endemic creatures—those found nowhere else—carry evolutionary histories stretching back 150 million years, to the time when the supercontinent Gondwana fractured and India separated from Africa, the geological upheaval that created the mountains themselves.
The threats are not mysterious. Urbanization sprawls across the landscape. Agricultural expansion consumes habitat. Livestock grazing degrades vegetation. Infrastructure projects—windmills, dams, roads—carve through ecosystems. Invasive species colonize native niches. Mining operations scar the terrain. The cumulative weight of human activity is reshaping the Western Ghats in ways that species adapted over millions of years cannot easily survive. Recent studies have documented the toll: farming practices are decimating frog populations, and a 2023 bird survey found that twelve endemic bird species have declined by 75 percent.
To conduct their work, Koparde and his team undertook fieldwork that demanded both patience and physical endurance. They hiked to remote locations, navigating difficult terrain—mangrove swamps, riverbanks slick with moss—arriving before dawn to spend hours spotting, documenting, and collecting specimens. The effort yielded discoveries. Seven previously unknown species were identified, including one the researchers named Protosticta armageddonia, a deliberate reference to the term "ecological armageddon," the phrase scientists use to describe the catastrophic collapse of insect populations worldwide.
Now Koparde's team is building something that may prove crucial for the future: a genetic library of every species they have documented. By mapping the DNA of these insects, researchers can trace which parts of the world each species evolved in, understanding not just what is present but how it came to be. This knowledge becomes essential for conservation decisions—knowing which species are truly endemic, which are irreplaceable, and which ecosystems are most critical to protect. The Western Ghats remain one of Earth's most important biodiversity hotspots, but the window for understanding and preserving what lives there is narrowing. The dragonflies are telling a story about the health of the region, and the story, so far, is one of loss.
Notable Quotes
Dragonflies and damselflies are good indicators of the health of a region. Consequently, when their numbers drop, it could signal the potential degradation of an ecosystem.— Pankaj Koparde, evolutionary ecologist who led the study
The species that exist there could have evolutionary roots in the Gondwana supercontinent.— Pankaj Koparde, on the ancient origins of Western Ghats species
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why dragonflies? Why not study something more visible, more charismatic?
Because dragonflies live in water and on land. They're sensitive to changes in both. When water quality shifts, when wetlands dry up, when vegetation disappears—dragonflies feel it first. They're like a smoke detector for ecosystem collapse.
The study found 143 species but missed 79 others. How do you know those 79 are actually gone and not just hiding?
You don't, not with certainty. Some species are genuinely rare or only active in specific seasons. But when you search systematically across five states over two years and still don't find them, the absence becomes meaningful. It's a signal worth taking seriously.
What makes the Western Ghats so special compared to other mountain ranges?
Age, mostly. These mountains are 150 million years old—older than the Himalayas. The species there have been evolving in isolation since the supercontinent broke apart. They're living fossils in a way, carrying genetic information from a world that no longer exists.
If dragonflies are declining 35 percent, what does that tell us about everything else?
It tells us the whole system is under stress. Frogs are disappearing. Endemic birds have dropped 75 percent in just over a decade. Dragonflies aren't unique victims—they're just the ones we finally decided to count carefully.
What happens if you lose a species that only exists in one place?
You lose it forever. Not just from that region—from Earth entirely. And you lose whatever role it played in that ecosystem, whatever it pollinated or regulated or kept in balance. The loss cascades in ways we often don't understand until it's too late.