The reproductive behaviour of Neurobasis kaupi was studied for the first time in Central and South Sulawesi. The species was recorded in a wide variety of clear and fast flowing creeks, streams and rivers, mostly in forested areas. The males were territorial and defended potential oviposition sites, a limited resource. Territory owners demonstrated their presence…
The Odonata checklist of continental Portugal, Madeira and the Azores includes 65 species. Besides Sympetrum nigrifemur, an endemic of Madeira and the Canary Islands, and the unique population of the Nearctic Ischnura hastata in the Azores, the species composition reflects a higher proportion of western Mediterranean and Ethiopian elements than any other European country. An…
The small African species of Diplacodes have been confused for a long time, in part because the black mature males are difficult to separate. The holotype of D. deminuta belongs to the species commonly known as D. okavangoensis, the former name taking priority, while its paratypes belong to that known erroneously as D. deminuta, which…
Herein I respond to a critique of my paper on wing positions in Zygoptera. The author of that critique suggested that most of the hypotheses presented in that paper were flawed and questioned some of the facts brought to bear on them. In addition, he presented his own ideas in support of hypotheses I had…
In a recent paper D.R. Paulson (2004; IJO 7: 505-515) presented five hypotheses concerning the way wings are held in the Zygoptera during perching. A critical examination suggests that most of them have substantial flaws that prevent their testing. Based on Bechly’s phylogeny (1998;
The Odonata fauna of Papua New Guinea is species-rich, but human population growth and resulting modification of primary rainforests may lead to a loss of valuable habitat and species diversity. In this study, I compared the odonate assemblages of a natural tropical rainforest and a modified forest in order to assess the loss that could…
Quantitative data are essential for many aspects of ecological research. Several methods exist to quantify odonate abundance, but complications may arise when abundances in different habitats need to be compared. In this study, I explored a technique that can overcome the variable detectability of odonates in habitats with different visibility. Distance sampling is briefly introduced…
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…
The Afrotropical ‘neodythemistine’ genera are an example of venation-biased classification in Odonata. This example is used to argue the bankruptcy of some traditional classifications in the order, particularly in the Libellulidae, and the need to apply alternative characters to define genera. Two groups of Afrotropical ‘neodythemistines’ are identified by male and female genitalia, supported by…
During the 2003/2004 summer flying season, upright emergence of a male Petalura gigantea was observed and photographed in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales during an extensive survey for the species. This observation differed from the only previous illustration of a hanging back emergence style, and is compared with observations of emergence style for…