Revision of the status of Anaciaeschna donaldi and A. martini, with allied species, and distributional notes (Odonata: Aeshnidae)

The taxonomic status of four Asian Anaciaeschna species, viz. A. donaldi, A. kashmirense, A. martini, and A. montivagans, has not yet been fully settled. Each of them is often treated as a good species in the major catalogues of World Odonata. However, the taxonomic relationship especially of A. donaldi and A. martini remains problematic, i.e., the attribution of Indian and Nepalese populations is still confusing. This even includes museum collections which have used different references for identification. In this paper we review the complex background of the taxonomical history of A. donaldi, including A. martini, with distributional notes, and present the first record from Bhutan. A morphological comparison was made based on specimens from Nepal and Japan, including photographical analysis of A. donaldi type specimens from India. To support our morphological analysis, we also analysed nuclear and mitochondrial DNA from Japanese and Nepalese material. Our results showed there are no significant in morphological or molecular genetic differences between A. donaldi and martini; therefore we conclude that A. donaldi is a junior synonym of A. martini. Additionally, we confirmed the status of A. montivagans, once wrongly synonymised with A. martini, as a valid species.