Pictorial Handbook on Common Dragonflies and Damselflies of Kerala
By K.G. Emiliyamma, C. Radhakrishnan & M. J. Palot – (2005)
67 pages; art paper, with 52 colour photographs and 1 map.
Soft Cover. 24cm x 18cm
ISBN: 81-8171-067-3
Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata
I love reading books and possessing a respectable library on subjects of natural history and it is indeed rare that I feel so peeved with a book purchase that I feel like throwing it in the bin instead of finding a proud space for it among my book shelves. However, this is certainly the case with this particular book!
Virtually everything about this small expensive book which only covers 46 of the 137 (or so) species known from Kerala in South West India, ‘irks’ me to the point of disbelief!
The book is very poorly constructed and only on the second read of it pages were starting to come unglued and hence on their way to falling out. Some of the information in the introduction on the ability of some Odonata to travel long distances is inaccurate. Pantala flavescens among others are known to fly thousands of kilometers (with or without the aid of air currents, storms etc.) during migration and hence P. flavescens is the most widely distributed Odonata on the planet found in all tropical and many warm temperate climates.
Of the 46 species included, 44 of them are found outside of India, many of them very widely distributed. Yet the distribution information is not only inconsistent throughout the book but is also incomplete. The bulk of the 46 species distribution, are listed as: “Throughout India”. A few species however such as Pseudagrion microcephalum have a slightly more informed distribution listing yet still incomplete and in this case listed as: “Throughout the plains of India, Burma, Sri Lanka and Australia”. Ok great, the distribution has been expanded a little, but what happened to Thailand, Malaysia and the rest of Sundaland, PNG, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu? There a few others also with a slightly expanded distribution listing, yet just as incomplete. Further, the choice of species is very poor for a book that is meant to be very regional. Some sort of effort to include more regionally local and or even nationally endemic species (there are 186 national endemics, 62 of which are known from Kerala) should have been made instead of including 44 species that are generally quite common and very wide spread outside of India.
Finally, the standard and quality of the photographs can only politely be described as “rubbish” and their print reproduction is also just as bad! The photos in this book are so bad it is completely beyond my comprehension how anyone could even begin to contemplate that these photos were/are actually of publishable quality and could be used for identification purposes. One extreme example, the photo of Agriocnemis pygmaeaeis not only almost completely blacked out because it is so dark, but it is completely out of focus! Totally useless to anyone and everyone! If A. pygmaeae was an extremely rare species and only know from a single extremely poor photo, then one could understand why such a photo may have been included. But considering A. pygmaeae is by no means rare and is indeed very widely distributed, you would think the authors and publisher would have at least made use of someone else’s photos, which are clear and of some use. In fact they should have done that with all 44 species found outside of India and the 2 endemic species, because virtually every photo is very poor quality.
Apparently, according to part of the preface blurb, ”This book is aimed at interested amateurs, primarily the younger people, as well as those interested to learn more about the dragonflies of Kerala. With the help of the photographs provided, it may not be difficult to identify all of the 46 species dealt with in the book”… Talk about ambitious (although delusional is probably more apt), if this book has been designed to appeal and inspire interest, especially among young people whom are very visually orientated, the authors and publisher have completely failed. This book is not inspirational and help from the photos provided are far from helpful and make identification virtually impossible even for professionals. The only useful information provided in this book is a checklist of species known from Kerala. The species descriptions provided can be gathered from other books.
Only on one other occasion have I encountered a book either fauna or flora, of such poor quality all round in all regards that it actually makes me angry the authors and publisher had the nerve to put this debacle into print (wasting valuable resources!) then charge an outrageous price for it. This book is not worth $1 let alone $30-40 as it is advertised on the internet and the price I paid for it (plus postage).
Rod Rice
Principal Reviewer
Nature & Travel Books