Development of polymorphic microsatellite markers for a rare dragonfly, Cordulegaster sarracenia (Odonata: Cordulegastridae), with notes on population structure and genetic diversity

We isolated and characterized a total of 13 microsatellite loci from Cordulegaster sarracenia (Odonata: Cordulegastridae). Loci were screened in 24 individuals from Louisiana and Texas. Within C. sarracenia, the number of alleles per locus ranged from 0 to 5, and observed and expected heterozygosities ranged from 0.000 to 0.556 and 0.000 to 0.613, respectively. Overall

Description of the nymph of Gomphurus gonzalezi (Odonata: Gomphidae)

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…

Role of visual and non-visual cues in damselfly mate recognition

In many species of damselflies, sexual conflict in the form of male harassment is thought to explain the widespread existence of female-limited color polymorphisms. With a few exceptions, the majority of investigations into these mating systems have assumed that male damselflies primarily use visual cues to detect and recognize their mates. Recently, laboratory studies have…

Reproductive behaviour of a North African endemic damselfly, Platycnemis subdilatata (Odonata: Platycnemididae) and probable senescence effects

Although the endemic damselfly, Platycnemis subdilatata Selys, 1849, is widespread in the Maghreb, many aspects of its reproductive behaviour, biology and ecology are still unstudied. One particular feature of this species is that its coloration pattern continues to change during maturation and afterwards, which makes it a good model for assessing age effects on behavioural…

Differential larval responses of two ecologically similar insects (Odonata) to temperature and resource variation

How species respond to shifting environmental conditions is a central question in ecology, especially because ecosystems are experiencing rapidly changing climatic conditions. However, predicting the responses of species interactions and community composition to changing conditions is often difficult. We examined the effects of rearing temperature and resource level on larval survival of two ecologically similar…

The effects of odonate species abundance and diversity on parasitism by water mites (Arrenurus spp.): testing the dilution effect

Water mites (Arrenurus spp.) parasitize adult dragonflies. We collected dragonflies weekly at 11 waterbodies in Greenville Co. and Pickens Co., SC, USA, to: (1) compare parasitism prevalence across species, sites, and sampling periods; (2) test the hypothesis that prevalence correlates with host abundance; (3) test the hypothesis that prevalence is inversely related to host diversity…