Tropical America is currently experiencing the establishment of a new apex insect predator, the Paleotropical dragonfly Hemianax ephippiger (Odonata: Aeshnidae). H. ephippiger is migratory and is suggested to have colonised the eastern Neotropics by chance Trans-Atlantic displacement. We report the discovery of H. ephippiger at three new locations in the Caribbean, the islands of Bonaire,…
This report summarizes progress that has been made during the past five years toward the understanding of Neotropical Odonata. It also presents a list of critical species and sites, threats to Odonata conservation in the region, and priorities for further research. This region, the richest in the world for Odonata, must be a focus of…
The traditional method of classifying the twenty-one species within the South American genus Polythore has been relying on wing color patterns and male genital ligula shape. However, recent molecular research has shown that wing color patterns can vary significantly within some species, making it an insufficient means of species diagnosis by itself in some cases.
Despite a high number of incidental online records of spiders predating upon dragonflies/damselflies, studies on these interactions are scarce. Here, we describe the predatory behavior of Argiope trifasciata on the two most common odonate species in the study area.
Demography and territorial behavior of Hetaerina cruentata was studied along three lowland streams located at Norte de Santander department in the Colombian Andean region. Adult damselflies (N: 278) were individually marked, and using their recapture histories we estimated survival, longevity, sex ratio, age groups and population size at each location.
A redescription of both sexes of Erythrodiplax pallida (Odonata: Libellulidae) is provided based on specimens collected in shallow wetlands associated with flood plains from small streams to large rivers in Corrientes and Buenos Aires provinces, Argentina. The vesica spermalis morphology resembles those of the basalis and nigricans groups due to the presence of median and…
Microneura caligata (Hagen in Selys, 1886) is an endangered damselfly presently known from five localities in the central mountains of Cuba. The precise systematic position of this species within the former Neotropical Protoneuridae has been the subject of debate, with previous results from a phylogenetic analysis based on morphology suggesting that the genus Microneura should…
The Antilles harbour several island endemic odonate species, including some palaeoendemics, within a relatively small and anthropized area. Such attributes give this archipelago a special significance for the conservation of Odonata in the Neotropics. However, despite the importance of these islands, inadequately surveyed regions persist, mainly in the Greater Antilles, and there is not enough…
Behavioral data on Neotropical coenagrionids is still scanty, with very few studies on their reproductive behavior. Here we present the first description of the reproductive behavior of A. truncatum in a high density population in the Brazilian Neotropical savanna. The observations were made at a pond in an ecological reserve. Males remain at the water…
Protoneuridae are represented in the neotropics by 16 genera and 117 species, of which 64 species in 12 genera are known to occur in Brazil. Most of them are known only from the original descriptions or isolated records. During 2009 the Protoneuridae collection of MNRJ was revised; 2800 specimens were studied, belonging to 40 species…