Caledargiolestes uniseries ( Ris, 1915 )

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 : 12-13

Caledargiolestes uniseries ( Ris, 1915)

( Fig. 3 )

Argiolestes uniseries Ris, 1915: 62 . Distribution ( Fig. 4 ). Endemic to Grande Terre. This species is widely distributed and easily observed, it was recorded from at least 20 localities.

Habitat. Caledargioestes uniseries lives around creeks and small streams in hilly forests. It also occurs in oozings of very strong currents.

Biology and behaviour. The larva of C. uniseries was first discovered by Lippit Willey (1955), but not properly identified. It was reported as a Megapodagrionidae larva found in leaf litter, which suggested a potential non-aquatic, burrowing lifestyle. Lieftinck (1976) failed to correctly associate the larva to the adult and what he described as C. uniseries (by supposition) was in fact the larva of Trineuragrion percostale ( Marinov 2012a) . Winstanley (1983) correctly associated the larva of C. uniseries by comparing photographs and detailed drawings presented by both Lippit Willey (1955) and Lieftinck (1976). He reared larvae in laboratory conditions, where he could observe the emergence of three individuals and documented details about the foraging behaviour of larvae in the absence of free water. The author concluded that larvae of this species “thrive rather than survive in a situation frequently lacking free water, and they are normally terrestrial, although the rearing experiments also permit the view that they are amphibious” (Winstanley 1983).

In natural conditions emergences are sometimes during the morning, because a dead teneral lying close to its exuvia was found around 06:00 h, near water. The last larval stages of C. uniseries were considered as “terrestrial” by Lippitt Willey (1955), as some larvae were collected in forest litter. Adults remain around creeks and males do not appear to be territorial.

Status. This species has a wide distribution within its range with sometimes large populations. However, deforestation and mud pollution of creeks are posing significant threats, hence C. uniseries is considered as NT.

Figures

FIGURE 3. Caledargiolestes uniseries: a) male, b) female.

FIGURE 4. Records of Caledargiolestes uniseries.