Let's wait for the evening : nocturnal copulation in a tropical damselfly Phylolestes ethelae (Odonata, Synlestidae)

Abstract

Sexual selection is one of the main causes of the diversity of reproductive behaviours observed intra- and interspecifically. Here we study the reproductive behaviour of a unique species, Phylolestes ethelae, the only member of the family Synlestidae (Odonata) found in America. Our hypothesis was that the phylogenetic uniqueness of this species and the fact that it lives on an island would produce novel behaviours worth protecting as they are a part of the biodiversity. Between 2017 and 2019 we studied a population of P. ethelae in the National Park Armando Bermúdez in the Dominican Republic by means of mark-recapture techniques and focal observations.