Male dragonflies in North America may become less colorful due to climate change – this could also make them less sexually attractive than women.
(Photo: Getty Images)
Male dragonflies
Michael Moore of the Living Earth Collaborative and Washington University in Saint Louis, Missouri, and his team examined numerous records of dragonflies representing 319 North American species and compared them with the animals’ home climates. They found that the wing coloration of males of each species becomes darker and more intricate as the region cools.
The researchers then focused on 10 dragonfly species that have a particularly large geographic range across North America. They conducted a study on 2,700 photos of these species posted on the iNaturalist community science platform. This showed that even in the midst of a dragonfly species, males have wings that are less colored in warmer climates.
This is understandable, because colored wings take in more sunlight – and become warmer – than colorless wings. In fact, color patterns can increase the wing temperature by over 2 ° C and thereby damage the wing tissue, which can even lead to death if excessively heated.
However, this also indicates that male dragonflies are more likely to survive with increasing global warming if they have less colorful wings.
Also read: Primitive dragonfly, believed to have died out 4 decades ago, has a unique sex life
The discovery
Finally, the researchers looked closely at how their 10 concentrated species have changed in the recent past. They found that male dragonflies whose pictures were taken between 2005 and 2019 tend to have fewer brightly colored wings in warmer years and more brightly colored wings in cooler years.
This means that at higher temperatures only the male dragonflies, which are less colorful, survive.
Female dragonflies also have brightly colored wings, but they are unlikely to lose their color in hotter years. This may be because the females hide in the shade while the males fly in the sunlight.
But it suggests that the dragonflies may have problems in the future. If variegated females don’t find the boring males so attractive, they may not want to mate with them, says Moore.
(Photo: Getty Images)
Properties of Dragonfly
Worse still, the females may have difficulty identifying males of their own species, and they may mistakenly mate with males of another species. Moore said this has happened sometimes, and the offspring don’t thrive as expected, so that would be a detrimental consequence.
Whether they’re sitting delicately on a cattail or moving across a pond, dragonflies are certainly a sign of summer.
These dragonflies inhabit every continent except Antarctica and are instantly recognizable by their large bodies. horizontal wings, four long; and the way they move and walk around. Dragonflies can reach speeds of around 35 miles per hour and fly backwards just as nicely by taking off vertically, helicopter-style.
Related article: Dragonflies aim ahead to catch prey
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