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<p>The population ecology and behaviour of the Asian damselfly <i>Platycnemis phyllopoda</i> was studied from 2021 to 2023. The data collected from May to November 2021 in five sites along the shore of Sanchun Lake in the campus of Chongqing Normal University (Chongqing, China), based on counts of unmarked individuals, show that there are two peaks of population density in mid-May and early July, but the flight period extends until mid-October. Males patrol around noon using their swinging fans (enlarged pale-colored tibiae) in a special flight searching for females. Copulations lasted 15.6 ± 8.5 min while oviposition in tandem was observed for several hours. Marking and recapture of 125 males allowed individual recognition, and confirmed that although males of <i>P. phyllopoda</i> are nonterritorial, they nevertheless show high site fidelity. Their survival rate was estimated as 0.857 ± 0.015, with slightly higher survival and recapture rates in mature males compared to young males. We hypothesized that the fans of this species are employed as special signal flags to minimize agonistic encounters with other males by allowing easier sex discrimination. We observed that these enlarged tibiae are also used in courtship to females. By experimentally covering the tibiae of some males with black paint, we found that blackened fans significantly increased the agonistic interactions of patrolling males with other males, but not patrol duration, suggesting that the fans have a key role on male-male encounters. Our study emphasizes the point that, for nonterritorial zygopterans with enlarged tibiae, special patrolling behaviours, either zigzag flight or swinging fans, evolved to avoid unnecessary male-male harassment.</p>

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The Signal Flags of a Damselfly, a Study on Platycnemis phyllopoda

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年3月28日

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  • Xin Yu,
  • Yujie Feng,
  • Xinggang Li,
  • Adolfo Cordero-Rivera

摘要

The population ecology and behaviour of the Asian damselfly Platycnemis phyllopoda was studied from 2021 to 2023. The data collected from May to November 2021 in five sites along the shore of Sanchun Lake in the campus of Chongqing Normal University (Chongqing, China), based on counts of unmarked individuals, show that there are two peaks of population density in mid-May and early July, but the flight period extends until mid-October. Males patrol around noon using their swinging fans (enlarged pale-colored tibiae) in a special flight searching for females. Copulations lasted 15.6 ± 8.5 min while oviposition in tandem was observed for several hours. Marking and recapture of 125 males allowed individual recognition, and confirmed that although males of P. phyllopoda are nonterritorial, they nevertheless show high site fidelity. Their survival rate was estimated as 0.857 ± 0.015, with slightly higher survival and recapture rates in mature males compared to young males. We hypothesized that the fans of this species are employed as special signal flags to minimize agonistic encounters with other males by allowing easier sex discrimination. We observed that these enlarged tibiae are also used in courtship to females. By experimentally covering the tibiae of some males with black paint, we found that blackened fans significantly increased the agonistic interactions of patrolling males with other males, but not patrol duration, suggesting that the fans have a key role on male-male encounters. Our study emphasizes the point that, for nonterritorial zygopterans with enlarged tibiae, special patrolling behaviours, either zigzag flight or swinging fans, evolved to avoid unnecessary male-male harassment.