Within Europe, the damselfly Coenagrion hylas has a very limited distribution and is regarded as a vulnerable species. For studying migration and population connectivity in the Central European populations, 10 microsatellite markers were developed for this species.
To harass or to respect: the economy of male persistence despite female refusal in a damselfly with scramble mate competition
In sexual conflict, males are often thought to gain fitness benefits from harassing females over mating. Yet when harassment itself incurs costs to males and if alternative, receptive females are available in a local population, theory predicts that when confronted with a female refusal, a male’s choice of persisting or retreating is determined in part by the likelihood of achieving a mating.
Inpabasis intermedia, a new species of damselfly from Peru (Odonata: Coenagrionidae); with an illustrated key to all known Inpabasis-species
Inpabasis intermedia sp. n. (holotype ♂: Peru, Loreto Región) is described and illustrated. An illustrated key to both sexes is given for all members of the genus. Males of I. intermedia can be distinguished from its congeners by the angled division laterally between dark and light areas of the pterothorax…
Aerodynamic interference depends on stroke plane spacing and wing aspect ratio in damselfly model wings
The fluid dynamics of aerodynamic force control in insects depends on how oscillating wings interact with the surrounding air. The resulting flow structures are shaped by the flow induced by the wing’s instantaneous motion but also on flow components resulting from force production in previous wing strokes and the motion of other wings flapping in…
Wing surface in the damselfly Mecistogaster ornata (Zygoptera, Pseudostigmatidae): interactions between nanoscale wax and sticky spider webs
The representatives of the damselfly family Pseudostigmatidae are known for their ability to catch small orb web spiders, or in some cases small kleptoparasitic spiders in the webs of other spiders. In this paper, I demonstrate that the nanoscopic crystalline wax coverage of wings in the pseudostigmatid damselfly Mecistogaster ornata is partially altered due to…
Description of new damselfly Coeliccia schorri sp. n. (Odonata: Zygoptera: Platycnemididae) with a discussion of the Coeliccia hayashii-group in Vietnam
Coeliccia schorri sp. n. is described based on both sexes (holotype male from Dak Roong Commune, K’bang district, Gia Lai province, central highlands of Vietnam). The combination of the characters of a large pruinose spot on the synthorax, blue abdominal tip, and white appendages in the male and a long spine on the posterior pronotal…
Constant and shifting photoperiods as seasonal cues during larval development of the univoltine damselfly Lestes sponsa (Odonata: Lestidae)
Larvae were reared at 21.5°C from eggs from southernmost Sweden, and fed ad libitum to emergence in four different photoperiodic treatments, intended to represent increasing levels of time stress: constant LD 16:8, corresponding to late April (or August) conditions, a shift after about two weeks from LD 16:8 to 19.5:4.5, coarsely simulating late spring, constant…
Demographics and behaviour of Heteragrion cooki, a forest damselfly endemic to Ecuador (Odonata)
Damselflies adapted to forest habitats are expected to be negatively affected by the disturbance of riparian forests, due to the change in insolation when trees are cleared. In this paper, we compare survivorship and behaviour of two populations of Heteragrion cooki by means of mark-recapture methods and focal observations of adults. We found similar densities…
Telebasis igapocola sp. nov., a new damselfly from Amazonian Peru and Brazil (Odonata: Coenagrionidae)
To date 57 species of Telebasis have been described. Most are Neotropical species, only three extending North of Mexico. From Peru 17 species were known. Most are found in the Amazonian lowlands; two are known from higher elevations in the Andes. From Brazil 26 species were known. In this article another Neotropical species is described,…
The damselfly and dragonfly watercolour collection of Edmond de Selys Longchamps: II Calopterygines, Cordulines, Gomphines and Aeschnines
In the nineteenth century Edmond de Selys Longchamps added watercolours, drawings and notes to his extensive collection of dragonfly and damselfly specimens. The majority of illustrations were executed by Selys and Guillaume Severin. The watercolour collection is currently part of the collection of the Royal Belgian Institute for Natural Sciences in Brussels. This previously unpublished…