Agriocnemis exsudans Selys-Longchamps, 1877

Grand, Daniel, Marinov, Milen, Jourdan, Herve, Cook, Carl, Rouys, Sophie, Mille, Christian & Theuerkauf, Jörn, 2019, Distribution, habitats, phenology and conservation of New Caledonian Odonata, Zootaxa 4640 (1), pp. 1-112 : 21-23

Agriocnemis exsudans Selys-Longchamps, 1877

( Fig. 13 )

Agriocnemis exsudans Selys-Longchamps, 1877: 148 ; Agriocnemis vitiensis Tillyard, 1924 . Distribution ( Fig. 14 ). This species is widely distributed in the South-West Pacific, including Fiji, Western Samoa, American Samoa, Vanuatu and Norfolk ( Tsuda 2000) as well as the Solomon Islands ( Polhemus et al. 2008). In New Caledonia, it has been recorded from more than 70 localities. Bigot (1985) recorded two females on Ouvéa. One specimen collected on 15 th January 1968 in the municipality of Sarraméa is held in the ONNC collection.

Habitat. Agriocnemis exsudans has a large ecological range. It frequently inhabits habitats with standing water and calm sectors of streams and rivers as well as water-filled drains. It occurs in cleared or thinned woodlands but avoids ultramafic soil and forest. Its habitats must have well-developed, dense, herbaceous bankside vegetation in which adults live.

Biology and behaviour. Adults do not stray far from water and males appear territorial. Mating lasts for more than 40 minutes. Afterwards females lay eggs independantly, but guarded by their mates that remain nearby. Egg laying begins with the female out of the water, where she inserts her eggs into tender plant parts immediately be- neath the surface. As she works her way down the stem she goes under water until she is totally submerged. Emer- gence occurs all day long not far above the water and on any convenient perch.

Status. Because of the large regional and New Caledonian distribution, we rank A. exsudans as LC.

Figures

FIGURE 13. Agriocnemis exsudans: a) mature male, b) immature male, c) mature female, d) immature female.

FIGURE 14. Records of Agriocnemis exsudans.