ODONATOLOGICA Journal of the Societas Internationalis Odonatologica

Contents Volume 32, Issue 4 2003

Clausnitzer, V. Teinobasis alluaudi Martin, 1896 from mainland Africa: Notes on ecology and biogeography (Zygoptera: Coenagrionidae). p. 321-334. New records of T. alluaudi have been made from coastal forests of Kenya and Tanzania and from Pemba and Zanzibar Islands, Tanzania. Habitat and reproduction of this sp. are described. The systematic status of T. alluaudi, T. a. berlandi Schmidt, 1951 and T. malawiensis Pinhey, 1966 are discussed.

Fleck, G. Contribution to the knowledge of the Odonata of French Guyana:Notes on the larvae of the genera Orthemis, Diastatops and Elga (Anisoptera: Libellulidae). p. 335-344. The ultimate instar larvae of Orthemis aequilibris Calv. and of O. biolleyi Calv. are described and illustrated for the first time. The penultimate instar of the supposed larva of Diastatops pullata (Burm.) is described and illustrated. D. pullata is considered again as a valid species. Elga leptostyla Ris has peculiar setae on the occiput.

Gonzalez-Soriano, E.; Cordoba-Aguilar, A. Sexual behaviour in Paraphlebia quinta Calvert: Male dimorphism and a possible example of female control (Zygoptera: Megapodagrionidae). p. 345-353. The sexual behaviour and a case of male phenotypic dimorphism in P. quinta are described: black-winged (BW) males and hyaline-winged (HW) males. Similar to other territorial odon. spp., some males defended a space that females used for oviposition while other males acted as satellites. Copulation took place in 2 stages which differed in abdominal movement orientation and duration. Copulation duration varied between morphs and was frequently disrupted. During disruption, the genitalia of both sexes disengaged although the tandem position (the male's abdominal appendices grasping the female's prothorax) was maintained. Disruptions, which took place during the first stage (a stage during which displacement of rival sperm occurs in most odon. spp.), were sometimes followed by emissions of sperm from the vagina. Male morphs exhibit striking behavioural differences: HW malemale do not defend territories, but BW males do, and the former copulate for longer and show more copulatory disruptions. Some stages of female behaviour are described and suggested as instances during which females may be exerting mate choice: females copulated on fewer occasions with HW males, copulations with this morph were longer but ovipositions were not, and sperm emissions (possibly, sperm from previous mates) and copulatory disruptions of BW males were less frequent. Because of these differences, it is suggested this is a unique sp. to test current ideas of female control in an insect order in which the idea of male "control" has been traditional.

Schultz, H.; Waringer, J. A.; Chovanec, A. Assessment of the ecological status of Danubian floodplains at Tulln (Lower Austria) based on the Odonata Habitat Index (OHI). p. 355-370. The ecological status of waterbodies situated in a Danubian floodplain section at Tulln (Lower Austria) was assessed by a dragonfly survey using the "Odonata Habitat Index" (OHI) approach suggested by CHOVANEC & WARINGER (2001, Regulated Riv. Res. Mngmt 17:493-507). The investigation was carried out at 28 standing water bodies and 2 reference sites situated directly at the Danube. Stretches of 100 m shorelength were mapped and the "Representative Spectrum of Odonata Species" (SCHMIDT, 1985, Odonatologica 14: 127-133) was recorded. Only autochthonous spp. were used for the assessment procedure. A total of 11 Zygoptera and 20 Anisoptera spp. was recorded, 29 of them autochthonous. Site-specific Odonata Habitat Indices ranged from 1.72 to 3.67. The OHI of the only reference site where Odonata were detected directly at the Danube was 1.38. The mean OHI for the whole floodplain section was 2.79. These figures indicate a relatively high level of habitat diversity. By comparing this status quo with reference conditions derived from the overall habitat situation before the regulation and from old species inventories dating back to the 19th century, the status of the Tulln floodplain section was ranked as class II ("good ecological status") in a 5-tiered classification scheme.

Daigle, J. J. Metaleptobasis minteri spec. nov. from Ecuador (Zygoptera: Coenagrionidae). p. 371-374. The new sp. is described from eastern Ecuador (holotype male and allotype female, in copula: Ecuador, Napo prov., Primavera, Lake Taracoa lakeshore and nearby areas, 26-VII-1978, deposited in the FSCA, Gainesville, FL, USA). males are distinguished from its congeners by the slender paraprocts, and both males and females can be distinguished by their very small laterally directed thoracic horns.

Lodge, R. J. ; Freeland, J. R. The use of Odonata museum specimens in questions of molecular evolution. p. 375-380. Studies of population genetics and phylogenetics require samples from individuals representing a variety of spp. and populations. Collecting the necessary individuals may be problematic, particularly for seasonal, rare, or geographically remote organisms. Museum collections therefore provide a potentially valuable resource, and the widespread use of polymerase chain reactions (PCR) means that target regions of DNA can be amplified from very small amounts of tissue. Here modifications to DNA extraction techniques are described that have allowed the authors to extract, amplify, and sequence a portion of mitochondrial DNA from parts of single dragonfly legs taken from museum specimens up to 80 yrs old. It is anticipated that in future these techniques will be applied to a range of odon, studies, including questions of conservation genetics.

Sasamoto, A. Description of Devadatta glaucinotata spec. nov. from Laos (Zygoptera: Amphipterygidae). p. 381-386. The new sp. (holotype male: Phatang, Vang Vieng area, central Laos, 20-IV-2002; deposited at NSMT, Tokyo) is described, illustrated and compared with the allied spp.

von Ellenrieder, N. Agnophilogenia Kennedy 1940, a junior synonym of Philogenia Selys 1862 (Zygoptera: Megapodagrionidae). p. 387-391. Agnophilogenia Kennedy is shown to be a junior synonym of Philogenia Selys based on a comparison of diagnostic characters of the holotype female of its only known sp., A. monotis, with those of Philogenia spp. An analysis of the described spp. of Philogenia suggests that P. tinalandia Bick & Bick represents a junior synonym of P. monotis (Kennedy). The male holotype of P. tinalandia is illustrated and compared with the female holotype of A. monotis.

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