Female color polymorphism of Ischnura capreolus Hagen, 1861 (Odonata: Coenagrionidae) with notes on behavior and ontogenetic color changes

Polymorphism in coenagrionids is widely known, mainly for Ischnura. Here, we present the case of I. capreolus, a Neotropical species of which, until now, little information concerning color polymorphism and ontogenetic color changes was known. We used a marking and recapture method to evidence ontogenetic coloration changes in females. We show that, in addition to…

New records of polymorphism in Asian libellulid dragonflies (Insecta: Odonata)

Polymorphism has rarely been reported from dragonflies of the Libellulidae (Odonata: Anisoptera) family. Here, we report female-limited polymorphism in females of five species of the Libellulidae and a gynandromorph male of Brachythemis contaminata from South Asia. We describe the morphological variation between andromorph and heteromorph females, and collate records of andromorph females from various sources….

Ontogenetic colour changes and male polymorphism in Mnais andersoni (Odonata: Calopterygidae)

Colour-based traits are widespread in flying species due to the importance of visual perception in their communication. Ontogenetic colour changes and reversible physiological colours occur in some species and are used as communication signals to conspecifics. The genus Mnais (Zygoptera: Calopterygidae) shows both genetic colour polymorphism and age-related colour changes, making challenging even the identification…

Melanic individuals in color polymorphic Enallagma damselflies result from phenotypic, not genetic, variation

Genetically determined color polymorphisms have a long history in the study of evolutionary change acting on populations. The Odonata exhibit relatively high levels of sex-specific color polymorphisms in mature adults. In Ischnura and Coenagrion, female-specific polymorphisms are known to be controlled by Mendelian genes. Nearly half of Enallagma species have polymorphic females, but the inheritance…

A preliminary study on female-limited colour polymorphism in Lestes sponsa

Female-limited colour polymorphisms are widespread in Odonata, usually showing an androchrome and one or more gynochromes. Androchromes have been hypothesized to function as male mimics with a consequent decrease of male harassment, although males may also learn to recognize the different female colour morphs. In the Eurasian damselfly Lestes sponsa, the occurrence of two female…

The evolution and frequency of female color morphs in Holarctic Odonata: why are male-like females typically the minority?

We compiled data on the occurrence and frequency of distinct female variants among Holarctic Odonata and interpreted the data in light of harassment-based hypotheses. The major source of male confusion for male mimicry hypotheses is predicted to be signal similarity between andromorphs and male distractors; for the learned mate recognition hypothesis (LMR), it is predicted…

Role of visual and non-visual cues in damselfly mate recognition

In many species of damselflies, sexual conflict in the form of male harassment is thought to explain the widespread existence of female-limited color polymorphisms. With a few exceptions, the majority of investigations into these mating systems have assumed that male damselflies primarily use visual cues to detect and recognize their mates. Recently, laboratory studies have…