The functional morphology of the male caudal clasping apparatus of Zygoptera is compared to that of Epiophlebia superstes (Anisozygoptera) and Anisoptera. Hypotheses concerning the mechanics and muscle functions have been advanced by parallel construction of mechanical working models. The evolution of the clasping apparatus and the tandem linkage shifting – from the female pronotum to…
Site attachment and displacement of adult Somatochlora alpestris were studied by means of mark-release-resighting during two years at two clusters of ponds (A, B) ca 8 km distant from each other on opposite slopes of Prättigau Valley in the Swiss Alps. Data on 127 marked tenerals in 1998 and 92 in 2000 at (A) were…
A brief Odonata survey in southern Florida, USA, in January 2000 resulted in the discovery of two new species, Chrysobasis lucifer and Nehalennia minuta, for the USA and established populations of two other species, Tholymis citrina and Tramea calverti, that had been considered vagrants. Flight seasons of six additional species were extended. These records are…
The range of Macromia splendens, a rare anisopteran, includes SE France and some scattered localities on the Iberian Peninsula. During 1996-1998, I made an exhaustive search for the characteristics of the species’ larval and adult habitat, flight period and adult activity in NW Spain. Nine populations were found, greatly increasing its known range. Adults were…
Between 1987 and 1999 several visits to 69 localities in Tunisia were made. Altogether 46 species of Odonata, including 10 new to Tunisia, were recorded, raising the Tunisian checklist to 52 species. Our observations cover early May to mid June and late September to early November. Using as a basis for inference data from nearby…
Information (published and unpublished) on ecology, phenology, and geographical distribution of Lindenia tetraphylla is reviewed. It reaches from Sardinia (Italy; in the past also Spain) in the West, along the northern coasts of the Mediterranean, the Caspian region and the Middle East, to Kazakhstan, Kirgizia, Afghanistan, and Pakistan in the East. The southernmost record is…
Body temperature regulation and behavioral responses to temperature variation in the field were investigated in Sympetrum vicinum, a common North American libellulid that is most abundant as a mature adult in autumn. Because of its late flight season, this species is faced regularly with cooler environmental temperatures than most dragonflies investigated heretofore. By virtue of…
Research about the behavior of Neotropical species is crucial to understand how the rapid environmental changes in the Neotropics affect the reproduction of various organisms. The reproductive behavior of insects in tropical ecosystems, such as those belonging to the order Odonata, is as yet scarcely known. In this article, the reproductive behavior of Erythrodiplax abjecta is described from several localities in the Colombian Andean Mountains.
Aquatic macroinvertebrates are a primary component of freshwater ecosystems and one of the most threatened by anthropogenic pressures. Among them, dragonflies are a charismatic group of growing scientific and social interest. However, little is known about the natural history of several species. One paradigmatic example is the declining Orthetrum nitidinerve, a Western Mediterranean endemic anisopteran….
Several odonate species are threatened in the Mediterranean basin and some of them show alarming decreasing trends. The distribution and population estimations provided by the IUCN are based on occasional field sampling or non-rigorous methodologies and could be erroneous and misleading. To obtain reliable estimations of the population size and distribution of three threatened species,…