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Don’T Put All Your Eggs In One Basket: Increasing Survivorship In A Headstarting Program For The Endangered Hine’S Emerald Dragonfly (Somatochlora Hineana), Lauren Michelle Morris

Dissertations and Theses

In the age of the Anthropocene, wildlife is impacted by the presence of humans in both positive and negative ways. Many humans desire to conserve wildlife and the associated resources that come with it, while simultaneously the ever-expanding human population demands the land, food, and water resources, as well as other materials sourced from wildlife. Insects, a diverse and necessary group of animals are no exception to the impacts currently being experienced by wildlife. Because of this, some species are threatened or endangered, and human intervention is necessary. The federally endangered Hine’s Emerald dragonfly (Somatochlora hineana) is receiving intervention to …

Gregarine Parasites In Zygoptera Of Keith County, Ne, Anisha Kadubandi, B. Gage Kircher Ii, Scott L. Gardner

UCARE Research Products

Prevalence of Gregarine Protozoa Infection in Zygoptera Sourced from Varying Collection Sites in Keith County, Nebraska

B.G Kircher II, A. Kadubandi, and S.L. Gardner S. H.W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Cedar Point Biological Station, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Damselflies are ubiquitous flying insects of the order Odonata with thousands of species found around the world. The parasites associated with damselfly species are equally as ubiquitous, with the most common being gregarine protozoa and water mites, though other parasitic organisms such as trematodes are also found in these animals. Gaining an understanding of the relationships among hosts and …

Coloration Strategies In Sympatric Vietnamese Damselflies, Eva J. Driggs, Seth M. Bybee

Library/Life Sciences Undergraduate Poster Competition 2023

Odonates (dragonflies and damselflies) have evolved vibrant coloration for various reasons. Odonates use color signals to identify their own species from others and potential mates. Some Odonates use blue color to blend into the water while others are only active when their color can best be seen. Different selective pressures will evolve a specific color strategy. Color is a key to understanding the evolutionary pressures for damselflies. Color has not been studied in depth for Vietnamese Odonates, even though Vietnam is a top 15 biodiversity hotspot. We hope to better understand color evolution in Vietnamese damselflies and the role …

A Morphological Phylogeny Of Odonatoptera: Examining Missing Data In A Group With A Lot Of "Naturally" Missing Data, Robert James Erickson

Theses and Dissertations

Odonatopera exhibit a wide diversity of morphologies for an ancient group of winged insects. A morphological matrix of 463 characters is compiled for 347 extant and fossil representatives used in parsimony analyses, implemented in TNT, to document arrangements of taxonomic groups above the family level. Missing data and other challenges approaches implemented and interpretation of the results. We employ a novel approach to testing monophyly relative to quantities of missing data for each taxon. Phylogenetic reconstructions recover patterns of monophyly and trends based on missing data. We discuss the implications of our findings on missing data as well as limitations …

Dragonflies And Damselflies (Insecta: Odonata) As Indicators For Riparian Condition In Ozark Spring Streams, Cameron Riley Cheri

MSU Graduate Theses

The Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies) are often ineffectively sampled during standard stream bioassessments in North America. Subsequently, odonates are not frequently regarded as informative taxa for stream assessment, particularly when monitoring the ecological impacts of organic pollution. I hypothesized that stream-dwelling odonates should be more useful bioindicators for the assessment of riparian conditions surrounding streams because vegetation associated with streams is used for oviposition, roosting and to establish breeding territories. I selected twelve Ozark spring streams that satisfied a broad array of riparian conditions for study. I sampled each stream’s odonate and total benthic community along with both instream and …

Effects Of Life Stage, Site, And Species On The Dragonfly Gut Microbiome, Sarah Nobles, Colin R. Jackson

Faculty and Student Publications

© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. Insects that undergo metamorphosis from juveniles to adults provide an intriguing opportunity to examine the effects of life stage, species, and the environment on their gut microbiome. In this study, we surveyed the gut microbiomes of 13 species of dragonfly collected from five different locations subject to different levels of human impact. Juveniles were collected as nymphs from aquatic habitats while airborne adults were caught at the same locations. The gut microbiome was characterized by next generation sequencing of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene. Life stage was an important factor, with …

Diversity And Abundance Of Dragonflies And Damselflies In Tampa Bay, Florida, Meredith A. Krause, Thomas Koster, Bryan N. Macneill, Daniel J. Zydek, Nicholas T. Ogburn, Jonathan Sharpin, Robert Shell, Marc J. Lajeunesse

Integrative Biology Faculty and Staff Publications

Little is known about the community of dragonflies and damselflies in Tampa Bay, Florida, USA. To address this gap, we conducted 2 longitudinal surveys of adult odonates in a natural floodplain of the Hillsborough River in 2013 and 2017. Along with abundance and species diversity, we also measured intraspecific variation in body size, sexual dimorphism, wing-cell asymmetry, and water mite ectoparasitism. Our first weekly survey from Oct 2013 to Oct 2014 sampled 327 adults (230 female, 97 male) from 8 dragonfly species, with the eastern pondhawk (Erythemis simplicicollis Say; Odonata: Libellulidae) representing 79% of captures, followed by the second …

Haematoloechus Lung Flukes In American Bullfrogs: Prevalence And Associations Of Infection, Bethany Frantz

University Honors Theses

The prevalence and intensity of infection by lung flukes (Haematoloechus sp.) was examined by dissecting 1,590 American bullfrogs (Rana catesbeiana) collected between 2013 and 2018, from Conboy Lake National Wildlife Refuge, Washington. Overall infection, across all age classes, was 59.7% (n=1,580) and mean intensity was 17 (n=169; SD=19.3, range=1-166). A logistic regression model showed a significant relationship between infection and frog snout-to-vent length, gape, and collection year. Sex had a significant relationship to infection (χ²=7.31, df=1, P=0.007). Presence of odonates in the stomach was also significantly related to infection (χ²=22.49, df=1, P<0.001). This study expands on the current breadth of knowledge on this taxon in anurans into a previously unstudied region of the United States and emphasizes the use of odonates as secondary intermediate hosts.

Ms Environmental Biology Capstone Project, Chris Scott

Regis University Student Publications (comprehensive collection)

MS Environmental Biology Capstone Project

Embryology And Wing Development In A Dragonfly (Tramea Onusta), Valeria M. Casas

Theses and Dissertations

Most phylogenetic research within the insect phylogeny is focused on higher order taxons. Therefore, to better understand insect wing and flight origin, genetic studies on more primitive insect orders is necessary. Odonata, the order including dragonflies, is one of the earliest insect taxa to develop wings. Hox genes are highly conserved regulatory genes involved in embryonic development of organisms. Hox gene expression studies in insects allow improved insight of body plan development including wings. Embryonic development of dragonfly, Tramea onusta, was analyzed at various developmental stages. Developmental genes Antennapedia, Distal-less, Ultrabithorax, abdominal-A, Abdominal-B, engrailed, Cadual, engrailed 2, Wingless, nubbin, …

Species And Life Stages Of Odonata Nymphs Sampled With Large Drift Nets In Two Wisconsin Rivers, Bob Dubois, Dennis Pratt

The Great Lakes Entomologist

Because relatively few nymphs of Odonata are caught in most drift studies, they have been inconsistently reported and little is known about the species and life stages that are predisposed to drift. We used large drift nets with relatively coarse mesh sizes (1500 µm) to sample late-instar odonate nymphs in two large rivers in Wisconsin. These nets were presumed to have advantages over smaller, conventional aquatic insect drift nets, including the capability to sample greater water volumes more quickly, sampling for longer periods of time before nets become clogged with debris, and a reduced likelihood of large, active insects …

Dragonfly Distributions In North Dakota, Andre Delorme Ph.D, Hayden Zander

Datasets

Set of data for dragonflies (Order Odonata, Suborder Anisoptera) collected in 2016-2017. Data includes species, GPS coordinates, date collected, and sex of adults.

Wetland Connectivity And Macroinvertebrate Diversity, Samantha M. Hodgson, Jacob Pollock, Dr. Anne E. Wiley

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Wetlands are important in filtering pollutants from aquatic ecosystems and also serve as habitats for a diverse array of organisms. However, wetland-river networks are often subject to human disturbances such as dyke construction. These decreases in connectivity have the potential to impede movement of organisms and nutrients between habitats.

This study examined how the food web structure and diversity of macroinvertebrate communities differ between wetland sites connected and disconnected to nearby rivers. According to macroinvertebrate surveys in wetlands connected to nearby rivers and dyked wetlands (not connected to nearby rivers), there is an increase in average species richness and diversity …

Predation Threat Alters Composition And Functioning Of Bromeliad Ecosystems, Edd Hammill, Trisha B. Atwood, Diane S. Srivastava

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

Predators can have dramatic effects on food web structure and ecosystem processes. However, the total effect of predators will be a combination of prey removal due to consumption and non-consumptive effects (NCEs) mediated through changes to prey behavioral, morphological, or life history traits induced to reduce predation risk. In this study, we examined how consumptive and NCEs alter community composition and ecosystem function using the aquatic ecosystem housed within tropical bromeliads. We allowed the recolonization of emptied bromeliads containing either no predators, caged predators (NCEs only), or uncaged predators (NCEs and consumptive effects) and recorded densities of all macro-invertebrates, microbial …

Comparison Of Odonata Populations In Natural And Constructed Emergent Wetlands In The Bluegrass Region Of Kentucky, Brittany Ann Brookshire Miss

Honors Theses

With the degradation and destruction of many natural wetlands in Kentucky, there are high incentives to look at the remaining natural wetlands and the new artificial wetlands that are beginning to become prevalent among biologists. Wetlands are important to dragonfly populations just as dragonflies are vital to wetland function. In my study I looked at the fluctuation in Odonata (dragonfly and damselfly) populations at ten artificial wetlands and ten natural wetlands in the Inner Bluegrass region of Kentucky. In my study the dragonfly populations were monitored based on Shannon and Simpson's diversity, Species richness, and number of individual and species …

Odonata Species Of Special Concern For Oklahoma, Usa, Michael A. Patten, Brenda D. Smith-Patten

Entomology Papers from Other Sources

Assessment of conservation status is a necessary step before management plans can be formulated. Historically such assessments have a strong bias toward vertebrates, particularly endothermic terrestrial vertebrates (i.e. birds and mammals). Invertebrates, by contrast, tend to be ignored, and many insect groups, despite being species rich and reasonably well studied, such as the Odonata (damselflies and dragonflies), have not been assessed or have been assessed only at a broad geographic level (e.g. internationally or continentally). Assessment at a state level recognizes that states often are at the front of regional and local conservation and management planning and implementation. On the …

Additional Notes On The Odonata Fauna Of Kurupelit (Samsun, Turkey), Ali̇ Mi̇roğlu, Veysel Kartal

Turkish Journal of Zoology

In this study 387 Odonata specimens were collected and identified from the vicinity of streams and puddles in Kurupelit, Samsun, Turkey, between May and October 2002-2005. In all, 27 species from 17 genera belonging to 9 families were identified, 9 of which (Coenagrion scitulum, Ischnura elegans ebneri, Aeshna affinis, Aeshna isosceles antehumeralis, Anax parthenope, Hemianax ephippiger, Libellula depressa, Libellula fulva, and Orthetrum brunneum) are new records for the Odonata fauna of Samsun. This study includes faunistic and distributional records of the 27 species.

Odonates At The Clark County Wetlands Nature Preserve: A Look At Habitat And Relative Abundance, Erin Jolley

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The purpose of this study is to identify the various species, relative abundance and habitat of dragonfly and damselfly larvae at the Clark County Wetlands Park Nature Preserve (WPNP). An accurate assessment of these insects can be useful in interpreting potential indications of environmental problems at the Wetlands. From this data, necessary improvements can be made to the dragonfly habitat as well as the habitat of other surrounding organisms. Habitat identification is considered especially important because it is "structured by instream and surrounding topographical features, and is a major determinant of aquatic community potential" (Southwood, 1977). For purposes of this …

Time Constraints Mediate Predator-Induced Plasticity In Immune Function, Condition, And Life History, Robby Stoks, Marjan De Block, Stefanie Slos, Wendy Van Doorslaer, Jens Rolff

Dartmouth Scholarship

The simultaneous presence of predators and a limited time for development imposes a conflict: accelerating growth under time constraints comes at the cost of higher predation risk mediated by increased foraging. The few studies that have addressed this trade-off have dealt only with life history traits such as age and size at maturity. Physiological traits have largely been ignored in studies assessing the impact of environmental stressors, and it is largely unknown whether they respond independently of life history traits. Here, we studied the simultaneous effects of time constraints, i.e., as imposed by seasonality, and predation risk on immune defense, …

Evolution And Phylogeny Of Basal Winged Insects With Emphasis On Mayflies (Ephemeroptera), Thomas H. Ogden

Theses and Dissertations

Ephemeroptera (mayflies) is a monophyletic group of semi-aquatic pterygote insects, comprising 3083 species, 376 genera, and 37 described families and are present on all continents, excluding Antarctica, being associated with freshwater and brackish water habitats. The order is unique among pterygote insects in possessing functional wings at the penultimate molt (subimago stage), prior to the full development of genitalia; in all other insects the presence of functional wings occurs only after the final molt. The purpose of this dissertation is to use molecular and morphological data, in order to investigate the position of the order Ephemeroptera among other insect orders, …

Antipredator Behavior And Physiology Determine Lestes Species Turnover Along The Pond-Permanence Gradient, Robby Stoks, Mark A. Mcpeek

Dartmouth Scholarship

Identifying key traits that shape trade-offs that restrict species to only a subset of environmental gradients is crucial to understanding and predicting species turnover. Previous field experiments have shown that larvae of Lestes damselfly species segregate along the entire gradient of pond permanence and predator presence and that differential predation risk and life history constraints together shape their distribution. Here, we report laboratory experiments that identify key differences in behavior and physiology among species that structure their distributions along this gradient. The absence of adaptive antipredator behavioral responses against large dragonfly larvae and fish of Lestes dryas, the only species …

Predators And Life Histories Shape Lestes Damselfly Assemblages Along A Freshwater Habitat Gradient, Robby Stoks, Mark A. Mcpeek

Dartmouth Scholarship

Survey data from New England showed that assemblages of Lestes damselflies are organized along the entire gradient of pond permanence and predator presence. One assemblage occupies vernal ponds lacking large dragonfly predators and fish; four are largely confined to temporary ponds that typically contain dragonfly predators; one dominates fishless permanent ponds and lakes where dragonflies are the top predators; and one dominates permanent ponds and lakes where fish are the top predators. We determined the role of life history and predation in maintaining this striking pattern by conducting a series of transplant experiments in the field and a laboratory experiment …

The Problem With The Paleoptera Problem: Sense And Sensitivity, T. Heath Ogden

T. Heath Ogden

While the monophyly of winged insects (Pterygota) is well supported, phylogenetic relationships among the most basal extant pterygote lineages are problematic. Ephemeroptera (mayflies) and Odonata (dragonflies) represent the two most basal extant lineages of winged insects, and determining their relationship with regard to Neoptera (remaining winged insects) is a critical step toward understanding insect diversification. A recent molecular analysis concluded that Paleoptera (Odonata +Ephemeroptera) is monophyletic. However, we demonstrate that this result is supported only under a narrow range of alignment parameters. We have further tested the monophyly of Paleoptera using additional sequence data from 18SrDNA, 28S rDNA, and Histone …

Early Instar Growth And Survivorship In The Common Baskettail Dragonfly Epitheca Cynosura (Anisoptera: Corduliidae)., Bryan Arthur Reece

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Egg masses of Epitheca cynosura were collected from Bays Mountain Park, Tennessee, USA, in June, 1999. Newly hatched individuals were placed into enclosures and sampled at scheduled time intervals throughout the summer. Enclosures were exposed to combinations of high and low densities and presence/absence of a second-year class E. cynosura predator. Survivorship, mean head widths, and mean dry masses were compared across treatments. Due to poor recovery of early-instar larvae, survivorship showed no significant differences in mortality among treatments. The predator present treatment caused significantly smaller head widths and dry masses only on days 42 and 55. The density treatment …

The Consequences Of Changing The Top Predator In A Food Web: A Comparative Experimental Approach, Mark A. Mcpeek

Dartmouth Scholarship

Changing the top predator in a food web often results in dramatic changes in species composition at lower trophic levels; many species are extirpated and replaced by new species in the presence of the new top predator. These shifts in species composition also often result in substantial alterations in the strengths of species interactions. However, some species appear to be little affected by these changes that cause species turnover at other positions in the food web. An example of such a difference in species responses is apparent in the distributions of coenagrionid damselflies (Odonata: Zygoptera) among permanent water bodies with …

Iowa's Odonata: Declining And/Or Changing?, Robert W. Cruden, O. J. Gode Jr.

Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS

We undertook a comprehensive survey of the Order Odonata in Iowa. Because the credibility of our conclusions derives from our collecting strategy and effort, we discuss our strategy in depth. We collected throughout the state (more than 500 sites in 94 counties), throughout the flight season (late May-early October), and tried to visit several habitats in each county. Our 7900+ observations made between 1993 and 1996 include approximately 2300 county records, 93 of the 110 species reported for the state, and eight species previously unknown from the state. At least 30 species are secure and occur across the state. Other …

Prey Depletion By Odonate Larvae: Combining Evidence From Multiple Field Experiments, Clay L. Pierce, Dan M. Johnson, Thomas H. Martin, Charles N. Watson, Robert E. Bohanan, Philip H. Crowley

Clay L. Pierce

In this paper we re-analyze previously published data regarding the response of several prey populations to manipulation of predaceous larval dragonfly (Insecta: Odonata) densities in four separate field enclosure experiments. Using a computer-intensive "rerandomization" approach to testing hypotheses, we show that the individual experiments were not sufficiently powerful to consistently reject false null hypotheses. Combining the data from three comparable experiments, we can enhance the power associated with such tests. Three prey categories (Trichoptera, Oligochaeta, and large Cladocera), constituting less than one-third of the typical odonate diet, were found to be consistently depleted in enclosures with odonate larvae; but the …

Behavior And Ecological Interactions Of Larval Odonata, Clay L. Pierce, Philip H. Crowley, Dan M. Johnson

Clay L. Pierce

Enallagma aspersum and E. traviatum (Odonata: Coenagrionidae) are the most abundant larval odonates in Bays Mountain Park (Sullivan County, Tennessee, USA), although their spatial distributions are essentially nonoverlapping. E. traviatum coexists with insectivorous fish in a small lake, whereas E. aspersum is restricted to a small fishless pond nearby. Behavioral observations revealed that E. aspersum larvae were more active than E. traviatum, and tended to occupy more conspicuous positions. E. aspersum also engaged in more confrontations than E. traviatum, especially at higher density. In laboratorye xperimentsw ith juvenile bluegills( Lepomism acrochirusa) s predators,E . aspersum larvae were more vulnerable to …

Dragonflies At The Uwm Cedar-Sauk Field Station, Tom Pleyte

Field Station Bulletins

When visitors and classes utilize the Field Station facilities during the summer months, they seldom fail to notice dragonflies coursing the old fields or hawking mosquitoes over the little ponds. Their beauty and strong powers of flight have long fascinated observers, but few casual on-lookers are aware of the number of species present at the Field Station and the complexity of their behavior and annual cycles. This report will attempt to familiarize the reader with some aspects of the biology of dragonflies, the species of dragonflies present at the UWM Field Station and the times of the year when each …