Abstract
In the first half of this century, seven species of the damselfly genus Coenagrion regularly bred in Britain. Since that time, two of these species have become extinct, and three currently have highly restricted distributions. Of the remaining two species, the Azure Damselfly (C. puella) is both common and abundant, but the Variable Damselfly (C. pulchellum), while more common than most Coenagrion species, is experiencing a national decline in Britain. The reasons for the decline of C. pulchellum are poorly understood, and therefore its future in Britain is difficult to predict. The aim of this study was to investigate genetic relationships among populations of C. puella and C. pulchellum. We obtained mitochondrial sequence data from 36 C. puella and C. pulchellum individuals collected from five different sites across central England. These revealed three haplotypes with high overall similarity. Hybridisation between C. puella and C. pulchellum was suggested by (1) The sharing of a haplotype between C. puella and C. pulchellum, and (2) The fact that morphological characters of sympatric C. puella and C. pulchellum populations are not always species-specific. More research is required before we can determine whether or not hybridisation is playing a role in the decline of Coenagrion species in the U.K.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Artiss, T., T. R. Schultz, D. A. Polhemus & C. Simon, 2001. Molecular phylogenetic analysis of the dragonfly genera Libellula, Ladona and Plathemis (Odonata: Libellulidae) based on mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I and 16S rRNA sequence data. Mol. Phyl. Evol. 3: 348-361.
Bilek, A., 1963. Ein Freiland-Hybrid der Gattung Agrion Leach (=Coenagrion Kirby)(Odonata: Agrionidae). Nachr Bl. Bayer Entomol. 12: 56-58.
Brooks, S., 1997. Field Guide to the Dragonflies and Damsel-flies of Great Britain and Ireland. British Wildlife Publishing, Hampshire.
Chippindale, P. T., V. K. Dave, D. H. Whitmore & J. V. Robinson, 1999. Phylogenetic relationships of North American damselflies of the genus Ischnura (Odonata: Zygoptera: Coenagrionidae) based on sequences of three mitochondrial genes. Mol. Phyl. Evol. 11: 110-121.
Corbet, P. S., 1999. Dragonflies: Behaviour and Ecology of Odonata. Harley Books, Colchester. Ellstrand, N. C. & D. R. Elam, 1993. Population genetic consequences of small population size: implications for plant conservation. Ann. Rev. Ecol. Syst. 24: 217-242.
Gabb, R. & D. Kitching, 1992. The Dragonflies and Damselflies of Cheshire. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication, Great Britain.
Hammond, C. O., 1997. The Dragonflies of Great Britain and Ireland. Harley Books, Colchester.
Leong, J. M. & J. E. Hafernik, 1992. Hybridization between two damselfly species (Odonata: Coenagrionidae): morphometric and genitalic differentiation. Ann. Entomol. Soc. am. 85: 662-670.
Merritt, R., N. W. Moore & B. C. Eversham, 1996. Atlas of the Dragonflies of Britain and Ireland. HMSO, London.
Palumbi, S. R., A. Martin, S. Romano, W. S. McMillan, S. Stice & G. Grabowski, 1991. The Simple Fool's Guide to PCR. University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu.
Schneider, W. & F. Krupp, 1996. A possible natural hybrid between Ishnura elegans ebneri Schmidt, 1939 and Ishnura fountainei Morton, 1905 (Odonata: Coenagrionidae). Zool. Middle East 12: 75-81.
Tennessen, K. J., 1982. Review of reproductive isolating barriers in Odonata. Adv. Odonatology 1: 251-265.
Thompson, J. D., T. J. Gibson, F. Plewniak, F. Jeanmougin & D. G. Higgins, 1997. The ClustalX windows interface: flexible strategies for multiple sequence alignment aided by quality analysis tools. Distributed by the authors.
Waring, E., 1996. Coenagrion pulchellum (Vander Linden) in England since 1990. J. British Dragonfly Soc. 12: 26-29.
Young, W. P., C. O. Ostberg, P. Keim & G. H. Thorgaard, 2001. Genetic characterisation of hybridization and introgression between anadromous rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss irideus) and coastal cutthroat trout (O. clarki clarki). Mol. Ecol. 10: 921-930.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Freeland, J.R., Conrad, K.F. Genetic similarity within and among populations of the Variable and Azure damelflies (Coenagrion pulchellum and C. puella). Hydrobiologia 479, 69–73 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1021058231151
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1021058231151