Male Dragonflies: There is a Possibility This Insect May Become Less Colorful as the Climate Warms

Male dragonflies of North America may become less colorful due to climate change - this might also make them not be as sexually attractive as they were to females. 

(Photo : Getty Images)

Male Dragonflies 

Michael Moore at the Living Earth Collaborative and Washington University in Saint Louis, Missouri, and his team, studied a lot of records of dragonflies representing 319 North American species and they carried out a comparison of them with the animals' home climates. They discovered that whenever the region cool, the wing colouration on males of each species becomes darker and more intricate.

The researchers then placed their concentration on 10 dragonfly species that has a particularly vast geographical range across North America. They carried out an examination on 2700 photographs of these species posted to the iNaturalist community science platform. This showed that, even in the midst of one dragonfly species, males possess wings that has less colour in warmer climates.

This is understandable because colourful wings take in more sunlight - and they become warmer - than colourless wings. In fact, patterns of colour can increase wing temperatures by over 2 °C, thereby harming the wing tissue, which can even cause death by excess heating.

But this also proposes that, as the climate warms, male dragonflies are more likely to survive if they have less colourful wings.

Also Read: Primitive Dragonfly, Believed to Be Extinct 4 Decades Ago, Has Unique Sexual Life

The Discovery

Finally, the researchers examined closely how their 10 concentrated species have transformed in the recent past. They found out that male dragonflies whose pictures were taken between 2005 and 2019 tended to possess less colourful wings in warmer years and then possesses more colourful wings in cooler years.

This means that when the temperature is hotter, only the male dragonflies that are less colourful survive.

Female dragonflies also possess colourful wings, but the chances of them losing their colour in hotter years is low. This may be due to the fact that females choose to conceal themselves in the shade while males fly in the sunlight.

But it proposes the dragonflies may experience problems in time to come. If colourful females do not find the blander males all that attractive they may not want to mate with them, Moore says.

(Photo : Getty Images)

Features of Dragonfly

Worse, the females might start finding it difficult to identify males of their own species, and may begin to mate with males from another species mistakenly. Moore said that has already happened sometimes, and the offspring don't thrive as suppose, so that would be kind of a detrimental consequence.

Notwithstanding if its delicately perched on a cattail or moving about over a pond, dragonflies are certainly a sign of summer.

Inhabiting every continent except Antarctica, these dragonflies are instantly identifiable by their large bodies; horizontal wings, four long; and the way they move about and zip around. Dragonflies can get to speeds of about 35 miles an hour and fly just as beautifully backward by vertically lifting off, helicopter style. 

Related Article: Dragonflies Aim Ahead to Catch Prey

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