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

Diogo Silva Vilelaa,b , Leonardo Samuel Riciolib, Kleber Del-Claroc, Rhainer Guillermo-Ferreirab

  1. Graduate Program in Entomology, Department of Biology, University of São Paulo (USP), Ribeirão Preto, Brazil
  2. Laboratory of Ecological Studies on Ethology and Evolution (LESTES), Department of Hydrobiology, Federal University of São Carlos, Brazil
  3. Laboratory of Behavioral Ecology and Interactions (LECI), Biology Institute, Federal University of Uberlândia, Brazil

International Journal of Odonatology, Volume 20, Issue 3-4, Pages 191-200, 2017
https://doi.org/10.1080/13887890.2017.1373152
Published: 3 July 2017 (Received: 8 May 2017, Accepted: 22 August 2017)

Abstract

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 the gynochrome morph, I. capreolus females also exhibit at least one additional morph: an androchrome color pattern. Gynochrome females (97.1% of marked females) are green-yellow when young and change to a brownish pattern with age, within a week. Androchrome females (2.9% of marked females) exhibit blue coloration, similarly to males. Our study provides the first evidence of ontogenetic color change in I. capreolus. Furthermore, field observations show that I. capreolus is similar to other Ischnura species regarding sexual harassment behavior.

Keywords: damselfly, Zygoptera, color change, morph, mark-recapture, dragonfly

Issue section: Article