Cyanallagma demoiselle sp. nov. (holotype male deposited in DZUP: Brazil, São Paulo State, Cananéia, Ilha do Cardoso State Park), a new small greenish blue and black damselfly, is described, illustrated, and diagnosed based on males and females from the southeastern Atlantic Forest.
The taxonomic status of the Central Asian damselfly Calopteryx samarcandica was determined on the basis of molecular and phenotypic data from the Kugitang Mountains, SE Uzbekistan.
The evolution of sibling cannibalism as a maternal strategy is particularly challenging to explain when nurseries are shared among multiple females. Such is the case for the damselfly, Megaloprepus caerulatus, whose females lay eggs in bark above the water line in large, water-filled tree holes.
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.
A new damselfly species, Philogenia realpei sp. nov., is described here from 5 ♂♂, 2 ♀♀ collected at Cauca and Putumayo departments in southern Colombia. This species is included in the P. helena group and can be differentiated from other species by the unique morphology of its paraprocts.
Tukanobasis huamantincoae sp. n. (holotype ♂: Peru, Loreto Región [MUSM]) is described and illustrated. Males of T. huamantincoae can be distinguished from T. corbeti by the presence of postocular spots and antehumeral stripes, the absence of apical brown wingspots, smaller number of postnodals, shorter CuA, …
Males of Calopteryx splendens use two alternative mating tactics, territoriality, and non-territoriality. These different mating tactics are shown to vary between males within the same population and previous studies have shown that territorial males have considerably higher fitness than non-territorial males.
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.
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.
Our study evaluated the effects of environmental variables on the assemblages of the suborder Zygoptera, and tested the hypothesis that environmental variables are more important determinants of the structure of these assemblages than limnological variables in streams. We sampled 17 streams in the Carajás National Forest and tested our hypothesis using a linear regression analysis, with the zygopteran species composition, richness, and abundance as the response variables.