I investigated whether the level of male harassment affects females’ oviposition behaviour, such that females oviposit unguarded under suboptimal conditions and/or vary oviposition duration, dip number, dip frequency or number of oviposition site changes. The study species were the libellulids Crocothemis erythraea, Ortbetrum chrysostigma, Pantala flavescens, Sympetrum fonscolombii, Trithemis annulata and T. kirbyi ardens. Only…
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.
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…
Does wing shape of andromorph females of Calopteryx splendens (Harris, 1780) resemble that of males?
Female limited polymorphism consists in the coexistence of two or more female morphs in the same population and is widespread among odonates. Generally, one female morph, the andromorph, resembles males in colour or, sometimes, also in morphology and behaviour, while one or more other morphs, gynomorphs, differ from males. This phenomenon is probably promoted by…
Slow-motion analysis of female refusal behaviour in dragonflies
By means of slow-motion film analysis we found new female refusal behaviour patterns against male harassment in a variety of Odonata species. Often, females could escape simply by flying faster than males. Due to the morphological preconditions, there were differences in the two suborders. In Anisoptera, several behavioural specialities were analysed: (a) females of Aeshna…
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…
Oviposition behavior and substrate utilization by Lestes congener (Odonata: Lestidae)
Here we describe tandem oviposition (contact guarding) in Lestes congener and the use of dry stems of the sedge Eleocharis obtusa as oviposition substrates at a pond in New York State. Pairs formed away from the pond, then flew to Eleocharis patches on dry land 0.5–3 m from the water’s edge. Some copulations occurred at…
Perch selection in a guild of tropical dragonflies (Odonata: Libellulidae): relationships with body size and thermal ecology
In the temperate zone, male perch height of co-occurring dragonfly species (Odonata: Libellulidae) often correlates with species body size. I tested for this relationship in a guild of tropical dragonflies at a wetland at La Selva Biological Station, Heredia, Costa Rica. Males of 12 species were observed perching in January–February 2016. Mean male perch height…