Revision of the Platystictidae of the Philippines (Odonata), excluding the Drepanosticta halterata group, with descriptions of twenty-one new species

Thirty-one species of the family Platystictidae of the Philippines are revised, i.e. all species recognised, excluding the species of the Drepanosticta halterata-group. The following new taxa are described: 16 species in Drepanosticta Laidlaw: D. acuta spec. nov., D. aurita spec. nov., D. centrosaurus spec. nov., D. clados spec. nov., D. flavomaculata spec. nov., D. furcata spec. nov., D. hermes spec. nov., D. krios spec. nov., D. luzonica spec. nov., D. malleus spec. nov., D. myzouris spec. nov., D. paruatia spec. nov., D. pistor spec. nov., D. quadricornu spec. nov., D. rhamphis spec. nov., D. trachelocele spec. nov., two in Protosticta Selys, viz. P. lepteca spec. nov. and P. plicata spec. nov., and three in Sulcosticta gen. nov., viz. S. striata spec. nov., S. pallida spec. nov. and S. viticula spec. nov. The status of eleven previously described nominal taxa is established. One, D. septima Needham & Gyger, is doubtfully considered a synonym of D. mylitta Cowley. Based on a preliminary phylogenetic analysis, the species of Drepanosticta are divided into informal species groups. Most species of the Philippines have affinities to species of Sulawesi, the Moluccas and New Guinea. Several species confined to Palawan have sister-group relationships with species from Borneo. The affinities of various other species confined to the Sulu archipelago, are unsettled as yet. The species of Platystictidae here assigned to Protosticta Selys are presumably not closely related to the type species, P. simplicinervis Selys from Sulawesi. However, a better placement has to await a more detailed phylogenetic study of the family. For three species the new genus Sulcosticta gen. nov. is erected. These species are closely allied based on the structure of the appendages, but should have been assigned to different genera if based on the present generic definitions. Many species here described have small distributional ranges, a common phenomenon in Platystictidae. Since most forests in the Philippines are heavily under threat or have already disappeared in the last fifty years, several taxa described in this paper should be considered under threat of immediate extinction.