About Merogomphus tamaracherriensis Fraser, 1931
Merogomphus tamaracherriensis is a large dragonfly species with bottle-green eyes. Its thorax is black and marked with bright yellow; the sides of the thorax are greenish-yellow and crossed by two closely parallel black stripes. Its abdomen is black, marked with bright yellow. In 1931, Fraser originally described this taxon as a race or subspecies of Merogomphus longistigma. He distinguished it from M. longistigma longistigma by the color of the occiput, abdominal markings, and its smaller size. In this taxon, the occiput is entirely black, while the occiput of M. longistigma longistigma is greenish-yellow. In M. tamaracherriensis, the mid-dorsal spot on abdominal segment 3 is isolated, and mid-dorsal spots are entirely absent from segments 4 to 6. By contrast, M. longistigma longistigma has a narrow mid-dorsal stripe from segment 3 to segment 6. M. tamaracherriensis has a tiny diamond-shaped mid-dorsal spot at the base of segment 8. Segments 9 and 10 are usually unmarked, but sometimes segment 9 has a fine mid-dorsal streak and segment 10 has a tiny yellow mid-dorsal apical point. Following advice from D. E. Kimmins, Fraser revised this taxon in 1953. He found that the anal appendages of M. tamaracherriensis differ considerably from those of M. longistigma. In M. longistigma, the anal appendages are distinctly depressed along their distal half, and their apices turn sharply upwards. In M. tamaracherriensis, the base of the anal appendage slopes sharply away on the inner side, making the fenestra diamond-shaped. This dragonfly is commonly found in marshlands, bogs, or streams at the foot of hills.
