Species richness of Odonata in Lanuza and San Agustin, Surigao del Sur, Philippines

The Odonata spends its time in water and on land during its life cycle making this invertebratean important link between aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. To determine the species richness of Odonata in Lanuza and San Agustin, Surigao del Sur, assessment was conducted in 18 sampling sites in August to October 2012. Forty-nine species were documented where 26 species are under the suborder Zygoptera and 23 under suborder Anisoptera. Himatagan River of Lanuza, Surigao del Sur was found to be the most species-rich. Three species which are indicators of environmental disturbance were found to be abundant in eight sampling sites. These are the highly disturbed sites being in the vicinity of agroecosystems such as rice paddies, eggplant farms and root crop fields. Twenty-three Philippine endemic species were documented. Two species are new Mindanao record and one is endemic to the Philippines. More species are expected to be documented with intensive surveys especially in pristine