The Antilles harbour several island endemic odonate species, including some palaeoendemics, within a relatively small and anthropized area. Such attributes give this archipelago a special significance for the conservation of Odonata in the Neotropics. However, despite the importance of these islands, inadequately surveyed regions persist, mainly in the Greater Antilles, and there is not enough…
The present study provides the first odonate survey for the Brazilian Caatinga, including species habitat information. Specimens were collected during five days in both dry and rainy seasons of 2011 in the municipality of Itatira, state of Ceará, located in the semi-arid region of northeastern Brazil. Adult individuals of 37 species were documented, the highest…
Assessment of conservation status is a necessary step before management plans can be formulated. Historically such assessments have a strong bias toward vertebrates, particularly endothermic terrestrial vertebrates (i.e. birds and mammals). Invertebrates, by contrast, tend to be ignored, and many insect groups, despite being species rich and reasonably well studied, such as the Odonata (damselflies…
A new species, Leptagrion cyanostigma sp. nov., is described and illustrated based on 1 ♂ and 1 ♀ collected in the State of Bahia, Brazil. The species is generically unique by having a blue pterostigma with a black center. A survey of other Zygoptera possessing blue pterostigmata is carried out.
Dragonflies are commonly used as indicators of environmental quality and different methods have been employed to monitor odonate assemblages, such as surveys of all adults, evaluations based on breeding adults, sampling of larvae and collection of exuviae. Results obtained with different sampling methods may not be interchangeable, as the different life stages (e.g. larvae, adults)…
Monitoring methods always recommend gathering data during the maximal activity of adults. Hence monitoring the threatened Lestes macrostigma requires knowledge of its activity pattern. Dragonfly “activity” is ambiguous and its intensity can be assessed in different ways, including by the threshold of response to a predator stimulus, i.e. “awareness”. We studied the daily pattern of…
It is expected that climate change will have a great impact on many species and habitats. This will be greater if populations are found at the edge of their range or are isolated, and could lead to regional extinction. Here we investigate the possible impact on two boreo-alpine dragonfly species, Somatochlora alpestris and S. arctica,…
Anisoptera emergence in the seasonal tropics was monitored at a 35-ha managed wetland site in Hong Kong from February 2004 to November 2007. Exuviae records of 18 species from multiple emergence screens, exuviae traps and transect surveys were combined. The presence of adults during this period was also monitored. The study site comprised a mosaic…
From 12 to 25 August 2009, the odonate fauna of Santo Antão, Cape Verde was surveyed by recording adults and collecting larvae and exuviae at 26 localities, mostly situated in the northwest of the island. Based on the results of this survey and literature data on the Cape Verdes it appears that the resident odonate…
Extensive surveys for odonates were completed in protected areas throughout Guangdong Province, south China during the period 1997-2005. Previously unreported data from these surveys is presented here and, together with published data, is used to catalogue the zygopteran fauna of Guangdong. Checklists are provided for the Zygoptera of Guangdong, Macau and Hong Kong. Sinosticta debra…