Abstract
We studied Polythore damselflies by mark-recapture techniques in the Jatun Sacha Biological Reserve (Ecuador) for a period of 48 days in October–December 2014. Three species were found: Polythore mutata (MacLachlan) was the commonest species (111 individuals marked), Polythore derivata (MacLachlan) was rare (24 individuals) and Polythore concinna (MacLachlan) occasional (four individuals). In P. mutata, we found two phenotypes amongst females, one of them with a white band on the wings, very similar in colouration to the conspecific male (androchrome), and the other with an amber band (gynochrome). The recapture of marked females indicates that both phenotypes are maintained since emergence to maturation and are not age-related (i.e. polymorphism). Androchromes represent 40% of females observed. The colour of the wing band showed an age-dependent change in size with opposite trends between sexes, increasing in males and decreasing in females. Males and females were observed to return to the same forest locations in different days. Courtships and ovipositions involving androchrome females were not observed. No matings were observed in any morph. In contrast, we recorded two consecutive matings of one female P. derivata. We found that Polythore males grasp the mesothorax of females during mating instead of the prothorax as in other Zygoptera. We discuss the rarity of reproductive behaviour in this genus and how female morphs might be maintained.
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Acknowledgments
Special thanks to Cornelio Bota-Sierra, Melissa Sánchez-Herrera and José Martín Meléndez-Quinto for sharing with us their observations of copulation in Polythore and some pictures. We are also grateful to Alejandro Suárez (director of the reserve) and to the Jatun Sacha staff for the support during our stay, especially to Nixon Stalin Andi for his help in the maintenance and observation of the collected logs after our trip. Andrea Encalada helped with paperwork and logistics. Austin Kent Moore improved our English. We also acknowledge comments of two anonymous reviewers. ISV was supported by a FPI grant of the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness of the Spanish Government (BES-2012-052005). This research was founded by projects CGL2011-22629 and CGL2014-53140-P from the Spanish Ministry with competences in science to ACR, including European Fund for Regional Development (FEDER).
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Sanmartín-Villar, I., Cordero-Rivera, A. Female Colour Polymorphism and Unique Reproductive Behaviour in Polythore Damselflies (Zygoptera: Polythoridae). Neotrop Entomol 45, 658–664 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13744-016-0417-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13744-016-0417-7