Open and banded wings: hypotheses on damselfly wing position (Zygoptera)

Zygoptera spp. either perch with their wings open or closed. The alternatives do not appear to be phylogenetically constrained, as there are sexual differences in Ecchlorolestes peringueyi, and population variation and individual variation in Pseudagrion sublacteum. Open wings would appear to be more conspicuous to predators (Shiny Wing Hypothesis). Yet there is a difference between clear and coloured, banded wings in Chlorolestes spp. Clear wings appear to be associated with crypsis, either in open or forest habitats. For spp. that have banded wings (and banded bodies), those individuals that are banded are aggressively territorial to clear-winged conspecifics and are sexually more attractive to ? $. Open-winged perching behaviour is associated with perching on tips of shoots and rapid escape from ground predators, supporting the Quick Takeoff Hypothesis. Conspicuous open-winged perching for banded-wing individuals appears to be a tradeoff between territorial superiority on the one hand and predation from aerial predators, particularly birds, on the other. Predation however, appears to be minor relative to the advantages gained by conspicuousness.