Odonata flight performance capabilities and behaviour and their body and wing form diversity are explored, and their interrelationships discussed theoretically and from observational evidence. Overall size and particularly wing loading appear predictably to be related to speed range. In Anisoptera at least, relatively short bodies and long wings should favour high speed manoeuvrability, though further…
Protosticta binhi sp. n. is described from the Central Highlands of Vietnam (holotype male: Vietnam, Gia Lai Province, K’Bang District, Dak Roong Commune, Dak Hro village, 14.36611° N, 108.4103° E, 1130 m asl, 22 May 2018, T.odo. 22051810, Zoological Collection of Duy Tan University). The new species can be easily distinguished from all other Protosticta…
Predator escape behaviour is a critical component of dragonfly life history. Flight initiation distance is the distance at which escape commences, and is well studied in vertebrates, barely studied in invertebrates, and entirely unstudied in dragonflies. Here we test four principles regarding flight initiation distance as derived from studies of vertebrates to examine if they…
Dragonflies and damselflies (the Odonata) are among the most efficient flying insects. However, fragmentation of the landscape can increase distance between habitats and affect costs of dispersal, thus shaping phenotypic patterns of flight-related traits, such as wing shape, wing loading and wing size. Urban landscapes are highly fragmented, which limits dispersal among aquatic habitats. Hence,
Rhionaeschna mutata is a rare North American dragonfly that is considered a species of concern or threatened throughout its range. It is most widely distributed in the eastern USA, but recent adult records indicate that its range extends further north and west than previously known. Effective conservation planning for rare species requires understanding their habitat…
Pantala flavescens (Fabricius, 1798) is one of the most common species of dragonflies and has been found throughout from tropic to temperate zones worldwide. In this study, RNA-seq of P. flavescens was carried out through Illumina high-throughput sequencing technology. Approximately 37,868 unigenes and 47,188 transcripts were obtained. The average length of the assembled unigenes was…
Habitat loss and fragmentation induce a decline and endangerment of freshwater organisms such as Aeshna viridis, an endangered dragonfly species characterised by a specific insect–plant association to the macrophyte Stratiotes aloides. In order to implement conservation measures, a good level of knowledge about the occurrence, habitat requirements and quality, as well as patch size of…
Larvae were reared at 21.5°C from eggs from southernmost Sweden, and fed ad libitum to emergence in four different photoperiodic treatments, intended to represent increasing levels of time stress: constant LD 16:8, corresponding to late April (or August) conditions, a shift after about two weeks from LD 16:8 to 19.5:4.5, coarsely simulating late spring, constant…
Very little is known about the biology of larval odonates from the Neotropical region, and in particular there are no data on behavioral changes during ontogeny and growth ratios, though both are crucial to understanding the dynamics of Odonata communities. Here we study growth ratio, development patterns and behavior of Rhionaeschna marchali larvae. We characterized…
Gomphurus gonzalezi (Dunkle) is a locally distributed dragonfly ranging from the Lower Rio Grande in south Texas southward to San Luis Potosi state in northeastern Mexico. We describe and illustrate the nymph based on specimens from Hidalgo County, Texas. The palpal lobe of G. gonzalezi has 7–8 small teeth in a straight line with the…