Meeting Abstract
Identifying conspecifics from heterospecifics is an important task in multi-species communities. Vision is an important modality for odonates where coloration may provide important signals for conspecific communication. The Hawaiian damselflies (Megalagrion spp.) compose an adaptive radiation that shows impressive color variation both between species and sexes. Male colors range from red to green, yellow, blue, violet, or black, often with multiple color patches within an individual. These damselflies have diversified into multiple habitat types, ranging from standing pools to high elevation streams to terrestrial vegetation, and are often found in multi-species communities. Therefore coloration may play an important role in the ecological diversification of this clade. We collected spectral reflectance measurements on the eyes, face, thorax, and abdomen of multiple species from five of the main Hawaiian Islands. In addition we measured reflectance of environmental substrates and sampled ambient light spectra. We conducted an analysis of color and contrast variation in multiple damselfly communities. The extreme color variation of this clade may provide key insights into the diversification of adaptive radiations.
