An international team of entomologists has described a new species of dragonfly from Annamense Mountains in eastern Cambodia and southern Laos.

The newfound species, named Asiagomphus reinhardti, is about 2.4 inches (6 cm) long.

It lives close to mountain streams in a remote border region between Cambodia and Laos.

“So far, only male specimens are known: a black body with yellow spots and green eyes,” the scientists said.

“As a larva they live for numerous year dug in the mud bottom.”

The species is named in honor of Prof. Klaus Reinhardt, a biologist at the Technische Universität Dresden, Germany.

“Having a newly discovered animal or plant species named after oneself is one of the most beautiful awards for a biologist,” Prof. Reinhardt commented.

“I’m extraordinarily honored, for sure, but there are a lot of other dragonfly researchers who would have deserved this award before me.”

Research describing the new species is published online in the journal Zootaxa.

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Oleg E. Kosterin & Naoto Yokoi. 2016. Asiagomphus reinhardti sp. nov. (Odonata, Gomphidae) from eastern Cambodia and southern Laos. Zootaxa, vol. 4103, no. 1; doi: 10.11646/zootaxa.4103.1.3