Platycypha caligata

Platycypha caligata
Male
teneral male
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Odonata
Suborder:	Zygoptera
Family:	Chlorocyphidae
Genus:	Platycypha
Species:	P. caligata
Binomial name
Platycypha caligata (Selys, 1853)
Synonyms
Libellago caligata Selys, 1853

Platycypha caligata, the dancing jewel, is a species of damselfly in the family Chlorocyphidae. It is found in eastern, central and southern Africa from Ethiopia to Angola and South Africa. Its natural habitats include shady parts of subtropical or tropical streams and rivers in forest, woodland, savanna, and shrubland, and shorelines of lakes.[1]

• 
  female, Ithala Game Reserve
• 
  Description by Ris (1921)[2]

Males perform remarkable territorial and courtship displays which include flashing and vibrating (foot waggling) their brightly colored legs with flattened tibiae and waving their abdomens.[3][4][5] Experimentally varying tibial colours showed functions of anterior and posterior tibial colours to be distinct. The white anterior colouration was vital during courtship to attract mates and achieve tandem formation. Similarly, the red colouration on the posterior of the tibia was necessary for territorial signalling to other males.[6]

References

1. Clausnitzer, V.; Suhling, F.; Dijkstra, K.-D.B. (2016). "Platycypha caligata". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T60005A75241796. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T60005A75241796.en. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
2. Ris, Friedrich (1921). "The Odonata or Dragonflies of South Africa" (PDF). Annals of the South African Museum. XVIII: 245–452. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
3. Preston-Mafham, Rod; Preston-Mafham, Ken (1993). The encyclopedia of land invertebrate behaviour (1st MIT Press ed.). Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press. p. 39. ISBN 0262161370. Retrieved 1 November 2014. Platycypha caligata mating.
4. Jennions, M. D. (1998). "Tibial coloration, fluctuating asymmetry and female choice behaviour in the damselfly Platycypha caligata". Animal Behaviour. 55 (6): 1517–1528. doi:10.1006/anbe.1997.0656. PMID 9641997. S2CID 34960347.
5. Telford, S.; Barnett, M.; Polakow, Daniel (2005). "The functional significance of tibial displays in the damselfly Platycypha caligata (Selys) (Odonata: Chlorocyphidae)". Journal of Insect Behavior. 9 (5): 835–839. doi:10.1007/BF02213559. S2CID 22706989.
6. Telford, S. R.; Barnett, M.; Polakow, D. A. (1996). "The functional significance of tibial displays in the damselfly Platycypha caligata (Selys) (Odonota: Chrocyphidae)". Journal of Insect Behavior. 9: 835–839.

External links

• Media related to Platycypha caligata at Wikimedia Commons
• Platycypha caligata on African Dragonflies and Damselflies Online