New records of the Paleotropical migrant Hemianax ephippiger in the Caribbean and a review of its status in the Neotropics

New records of the Paleotropical migrant Hemianax ephippiger in the Caribbean and a review of its status in the Neotropics 00

Johanna Hedlunda,b ✉️ ORCID logo , Eva Ehrnstenc,d, Christina Haywarde, Philipp Lehmannd ORCID logo , Alex Haywardb

  1. Department of Biology, Centre for Animal Movement Research (CAnMove), Lund University, Lund, Sweden
  2. Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn, UK
  3. Tvärminne Zoological Station, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
  4. Department of Zoology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
  5. London, UK

International Journal of Odonatology, Volume 23, Issue 4, Pages 315-325, 2020

https://doi.org/10.1080/13887890.2020.1787237

Published: 1 October 2020 (Received: 24 April 2020, Accepted: 22 June 2020)

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Abstract

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, Isla de Coche (Venezuela), and Martinique, and we review its reported distribution across the Neotropics. We discuss the establishment of H. ephippiger as a new apex insect predator in the Americas, both in terms of ecological implications and the possible provision of ecosystem services. We also provide an additional new species record for Bonaire, Pantala hymenaea (Odonata: Libellulidae).

Keywords: Odonata, dragonfly, Bonaire, migration, colonisation, ecosystem services

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