Member list

Current members

Lan-Wei Yeh
Ecology and evolution of Taiwanese Carabus ground beetles.
Chung-Hsin Huang
Master topic: Flucuating Asymmetry and Developmental Asymmetry of Cyclommatus mniszechi; PhD topic: Evolution of Mandible Morphology and Fighting Behavior in Stag Beetles
Ying-Yuan Lo
Systematics, Behavior and Evolution of Lynx Spiders.
Leocris Batucan Jr.
Chun-Yu Lin
Parasitoid Wasps of Damselflies; Phylogenetics and Evolution Histories of Treehoppers
Hsu-Yi Lin
Fighting Behavior of Odontolabis siva parryi Stag Beetles
Sheng Lin
Transcriptome Profiling Psolodesmus mandarinus mandarinus Damselfly
Pei-Hsuan Chang
Thermal Adaptation and Habitat Preference of Psolodesmus mandarinus Damselfly
Min-Chen Lin
Disruptive Camauflage of Colors of Pachyrhynchus Weevils.
Masahiko Tanahashi
Ecology and Evolution of Pachyrhynchus Weevils.
Su-Ping Lin
Symbiotic Yeasts of Stag Beetles
Jun-Ying Wang
Conservation of Mortonagrion hirosei Damselflies
Chin-Han Hsiao
Fighting Behavior of Rhaetulus crenatus Stag Beetles
Wei-Zhe Tseng
Systematics and Evolution of Weevils
Cheng-Tse Yung
Maternal Gift of Pachyrhynchus sarcitis Weevils

Past members

Jo-Fan Wang
Territorial behavior, trait evolution.
Yu-Hsun Hsu
Mating strategy, behavioural ecology, molecular ecology, population genetics, molecular phylogenetics, biostatistics.
Yi-Shou Yang
Reproductive Isolation of Psolodesmus mandarinus subspecies.
Wataru Kojima
Evolution of male sexual traits in Taiwanese scarab beetles.
Zhen-Yi Chen
Fighting behavior and reproductive strategy of stag beetles.
Teng-Yu Liu
Fighting behaviour and life history observation of a stag beetle Rhaetulus crenatus crenatus.
Princess Angelie S. Casas
Insect Diversity and Evolution
Lu-Yi Wang
Defense Mechanism of Pachyrhynchus weevils.
Hui-Yun Tseng
Aposematic coloration, island biogeography.
Yu-Jen Yu
Variation and Adaptation of wings.
Yen-Ting Chen
Systematics and evolution of insects.
Yun-Chieh Cheng
Damselfly larval diet, molecular evolution.
Tai-Chia Chiang
The effect of aposematic colors of Pachyrhynchus weevils on avian predators.
Yong-Chao Su
Behavioral ecology, sociobiology, population genetics, and molecular phylogenetics.
I-Ting Hsiao
Variation of genitalia in Euphaea amphicyana.
Jyun-Huei Huang
The fighting behavior of a stag beetle, Rhaetulus crenatus.
Shi-Ting Wu
Membracis Phyllotropis.
Chiao-Wei Lin
The fighting behavior of a stag beetle, Rhaetulus crenatus.
Wei-Liang Xiao
Variation of wing veins in Euphaea amphicyana.
Hung-Nien Chen
1. The effect of typhoon on survivalship of Matrona cyanoptera. 2. Modes of phenotypic variation in Euphaea amphicyana.
Chu-Yen Cheng
Phylogeography of a Philippine's treehopper, Leptocentrus reponens.
Che-Yu Kuan
Variation of mandibles in stag beetles.
Yat-Hung Lee
Speciation of Euphaea damselflies.
Ming-Yu Chen
Phylogeography and population history of the treehoppers, Centrochares horifficus from the Philippines Archipelago.
Shao-Chang Huang
Visual Communication of Matrona cyanoptera
Jen-Pan Huang
Population Genetics and Phylogeographic Analyses of Formosan Damselfly, Euphaea Formosa (Insecta: Odonata: Euphaeidae) from Taiwan
Wei-Yun Chen
Molecular and Phylogenetic Characterization of Endosymbiotic Bacteria of the Froghopper, Okiscarta uchidae (Insecta: Hemiptera: Cercopidae)

Visiting scholars and students

Jillian del Sol
Behavioral Ecology; Mating System Ecology; Weapon Ecology and Evolution; Evolutionary Biology
Ian Dela Cruz
New Species and DNA Barcoding of the Stonefly (Plecoptera) in Mt. Malindang, Mindanao, Philippines.
Shinya Komata
Ecology & Evolution of Wing Polymorphism in a Mimetic Swallowtail Butterfly, Papilio memnon.
Vanitha Williams
Predatory potential of waterbug, Diplonychus rusticus and dragonfly, Diplacodes trivialis on mosquito larvae.
Marina Vilenica
Dragonfly composition (Insecta, Odonata) in wetland area of Turopolje region, Croatia
Klaas-Douwe 'KD' B. Dijkstra
History, diversity and identification of dragonflies and damselflies (Odonata).
Erin McCullough
" Diversification of weapon form: aerodynamic costs of beetle horns.
Ashley E. King
Intrasexual combat and intersexual antagonistic co-evolution in horned beetles.

Leocris Batucan Jr.

Leocris Batucan Jr.

Title

Master student, Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology, Mindanao, the Philippines (MECO-TECO exchange student 2014-2015); TIGP Biodiversity PhD Student 2016-

Species: Mayflies, Psolodesmus mandirinus Damselflies

Mayflies, Psolodesmus mandirinus Damselflies

Project

New Species and DNA Barcoding of the Mayfly (Ephemeroptera) in Mt. Malindang, Mindanao, Philippines.

Abstrct

A sucker for information, Leo likes to read write-ups about anything the world has to offer - thus daily giving him the sleepy/tired eyes.

E-mail:leocrisjr@gmail.com

Field Site

Layawan River of Mt. Malindang in Mindanao Island

Layawan River of Mt. Malindang in Mindanao Island

Research Topic

New Species and DNA Barcoding of the Mayfly (Ephemeroptera) in Mt. Malindang, Mindanao, Philippines

A major waterway in Mt. Malindang Range, Layawan River sustains many plants and animals. The project is aimed to determine the mayfly (Ephemeroptera) diversity of the river which is believed to have many un-described invertebrates. Geared to being a baseline study, the project described and identified several mayfly species and looks forward to DNA barcode of the specimens for biodiversity conservation efforts and other future works.

Novel wing display and divergent agonistic behaviors of two incipient Psolodesmus damselflies

Psolodesmus subspecies

Psolodesmus mandarinus dorothea (a) male and (b) female with small black apical pigmentation and hyaline wings, and Psolodesmus mandarinus mandarinus (c) male and (d) female with larger pigmented area, conspicuous white patch, and brown basal coloration.

Sexual selection via male competition is a strong evolutionary force that can drive rapid changes in competitive traits and subsequently lead to population divergence and speciation. Territorial males of many odonates are known to use their colorful wings as visual signals and to perform agonistic displays toward intruders. Psolodesmus mandarinus dorothea and Psolodesmus mandarinus mandarinus are two parapatrically distributed sister damselflies that share similar ecological characteristics but differ markedly in wing coloration. The wings of P. m. dorothea are mostly clear, whereas those of P. m. mandarinus have a large area of black pigmentation and a central white patch. We investigated whether territorial males of the two damselflies at breeding sites display distinct agonistic behaviors associated with their respective wing colors. Behavioral interactions between territorial and intruder males and their wing kinematics were filmed and analyzed for P. m. dorothea in Lienhuachih of central Taiwan, and P. m. mandarinus in Tianxiyuan and Fusan of northern Taiwan. We observed that the P. m. mandarinus males exhibited a novel set of perched wing displays, which was not only absent in its sister P. m. dorothea but also previously unknown in Odonata. At breeding sites, perched rival males of P. m. mandarinus with pigmented wings exhibited escalating agonistic wing-flapping and wing-hitting displays toward each other. In contrast, territorial males of P. m. dorothea with clear wings engaged only in aerial chase or face-to-face hovering when intruder males approached from the air. These results indicate that the two sister P. mandarinus damselflies diverged behaviorally in territorial contests and support the hypothesis of coadaptation on the basis of wing colors and types of wing movement in Odonata. Our findings further suggest that divergent agonistic wing displays may play a pivotal role in the speciation mechanism of P. mandarinus damselflies. The sequential analyses of behavioral characteristics and progression suggest that P. m. mandarinus damselflies likely use mutual assessment of rivals in territorial contests.

Psolodesmus contest

Ethograms of territorial contests of (a) Psolodesmus mandarinus dorothea and (b) Psolodesmus mandarinus mandarinus.

Selected Publication

Batucan J. L. S., Y-H. Hsu, J. W. Maliszewski, L-J. Wang and C-P. Lin (2021) Novel wing display and divergent agonistic behaviors of two incipient Psolodesmus damselflies.The Science of Nature 108: 49 doi.org/10.1007s00114-021-01758-6 Oct 3 2021.

Batucan, L.S., O.M. Nuñeza, R.J.T. Villanueva and C-P. Lin (2016) A new species of mayfly (Ephemeroptera: Tricorythidae) from Mindanao island, Philippines and association of life stages using DNA barcode. Philippine Journal of Systematic Biology 10: 6–13.

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