Iago Sanmartín-VillarUniversidad de León · Biodiversidad y Gestión Ambiental
Iago Sanmartín-Villar
PhD
About
32
Publications
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Introduction
interested in the underlying mechanisms that determine behaviour and the effects this has on population dynamics and evolutionary processes.
Additional affiliations
June 2016 - July 2016
May 2015 - July 2015
October 2014 - December 2014
Education
October 2010 - October 2011
Publications
Publications (32)
Females of the damselfly Ischnura graellsii display 3 color morphs, a male-like androchrome morph and 2 other morphs, infuscans and aurantiaca, which are not male-like. Previous research has suggested that male harassment has a negative effect on female fitness in many different insect species. Studying how male harassment affects fitness of the di...
Damselflies adapted to forest habitats are expected to be negatively affected by the disturbance of riparian forests, due to the change in insolation when trees are cleared. In this paper, we compare survivorship and behaviour of two populations of Heteragrion cooki by means of mark-recapture methods and focal observations of adults. We found simil...
Colour-based traits are widespread in flying species due to the importance of visual perception in their communication. Ontogenetic colour changes and reversible physiological colours occur in some species and are used as communication signals to conspecifics. The genus Mnais (Zygoptera: Calopterygidae) shows both genetic colour polymorphism and ag...
Two key insights to better assess the ecological impact of global warming have been poorly investigated to date: global warming effects on the integrated life cycle and effects of heat waves. We tested the effect of a simulated mild (25 °C) and severe (30 °C) heat wave experienced during the larval stage on the flight ability of the damselfly Ischn...
Aim
Insects are one of the least studied taxa, with most species lacking basic ecological and biogeographical information. This problem is particularly acute in the tropics, where low sampling effort hampers accurate estimates of species richness at scale and potentially confounds efforts to identify the drivers of biogeographical gradients. Here,...
The multiple uses of eucalypt wood have driven massive plantations around the world. These plantations have been progressively invaded by Australian insects, some of which have become pests, threatening the plantation productivity, and modifying ecological networks of trophic interactions. In this study we addressed whether ants could recognize and...
This research-level text documents the latest advances in odonate biology and relates these to a broader ecological and evolutionary research agenda. Despite being one of the smallest insect orders, dragonflies offer a number of advantages for both laboratory and field studies. In fact, they continue to make a crucial contribution to the advancemen...
Biological invasions constitute an opportunity to study the evolutionary processes behind species' adaptations. The invasive potential of some species, like the Argentine ant (Linepithema humile), has likely been increasing because they show low intraspecific competition. However, multiple introductions over time or genetic divergence could increas...
Despite the great technological progress that has aided taxonomical identification, taxonomical issues remain for certain species found in remote and/or understudied geographical areas. The damselfly species Ischnura aurora has been the subject of a long-standing taxonomical debate, focused mainly on the existence of morphological and behavioural d...
Population structure determines individuals’ interactions and trade-offs with evolutionary consequences. Male biased populations increase intrasexual competition and intersexual harassment, reducing female resource acquisition and thus, resources availability for the following generation. We analysed direct and cross-generational effects of male ha...
The association of unrelated ant queens (pleometrosis) is supposed to improve nest foundation and competitiveness under environmental stress, but its evolutionary maintenance is difficult to explain because only one of the queens survives after nest foundation. My aim was to test the potential effect of queen association as a social buffer, i.e. as...
Ischnura praematura sp. nov. (Holotype ♂, China, Yunnan, Lijiang, 26º31´03.54"N, 100º13'38.89"E, 2396 m, 04 xii 2015, I. Sanmartín-Villar & H. Zhang leg.) is morphologically described, illustrated and compared with close species of the genus. Ischnura praematura can be mainly distinguished from its congeners I. aurora, I. rubilio and I. asiatica by...
The ‘functional allometry’ hypothesis proposes that the variation in allometric patterns of sexually selected traits is related to their function. We hypothesize that the allometric patterns for genitalia of aggressively territorial organisms are different from those in non-territorial organisms and predict that in aggressively territorial species,...
Early experience can prepare offspring to adapt their behaviors to the environment they are likely to encounter later in life. In several species of ants, colonies show ontogenic changes in the brood-to-worker ratio that are known to have an impact on worker morphology. However, little information is available on the influence of fluctuations in th...
1. The study of behavioural variability has a long research tradition in social insects. Because of their contribution to division of labour, between-individual variations have been mostly studied within the worker caste. In contrast, the level of behavioural variation between queens has been much less studied.
2. In ants, a high level of behaviour...
Can scientific laws be discussed on philosophical grounds? a reply to naïve arguments on 'predators' proposed by Bramble (2021). A recent paper by Bramble (2021) argues that given that predators inflict pain and fear on their prey we have the moral right to act to minimize these effects. The author proposes two alternatives. The first is to transfo...
A major challenge in evolutionary biology concerns how genetic and phenotypic variation is created and maintained. In this study, we investigated the origin(s) and evolutionary patterns of the female-limited colour polymorphism in Ischnura. This involves the presence of one to three colour morphs: one androchrome morph with coloration that resemble...
A major challenge in evolutionary biology concerns how genetic and phenotypic variation is created and maintained. In this study, we investigated the origin(s) and evolutionary patterns of the female-limited colour polymorphism in Ischnura. This involves the presence of one to three colour morphs: one androchrome morph with coloration that resemble...
Aquatic insects present diverse reproductive strategies, tactics, and complex life cycles which require distinct amounts of space and different food sources. And to achieve the reproductive goals they make use of many other strategies. Such reproductive repertoire allowed these insects to evolve the most intricate and fantastic mating systems, ofte...
We studied the demography and territorial behaviour of three species of the dam-
selfly genus Hetaerina, H. aurora, H. caja and H. fuscoguttata, along three lowland streams in western Ecuador: Tabuga, Buenaventura and Moromoro. We measured recapture rates of marked individuals and estimated survival, longevity, sex ratio and population size of the...
Survival and longevity in neotropical damselflies (Odonata, Polythoridae). Longevity among insect orders varies greatly, and has mainly been studied in insects in temperate biomes, where seasonality determines high synchronization of reproductive activities and limits lifespan. Most forest damselflies in tropical regions have low population densiti...
Body colouration frequently possesses a communicative function, particularly in species with colour polymorphism and developed visual systems as odonates, and also affects the conspicuousness of animals in relation to the background. Therefore, these factors can influence colour evolution and its development. The ecology and ethology of Argia ocula...
1. The evolutionary advantages that have driven the evolution of sex are still very much debated, and a number of benefits of parthenogenesis over sexual reproduction have been proposed. In particular, parthenogenetic individuals are thought to exhibit higher probabilities of establishment following arrival in new, isolated habitats such as islands...
Current research on female colour polymorphism in Ischnura damselflies suggests that a balanced fitness trade-off between morphotypes contributes to the maintenance of polymorphism inside populations. The genetic inheritance system constitutes a key factor to understand morph fluctuation and fitness. Ischnura genei, an endemic species of some Medit...
We studied Polythore damselflies by mark-recapture techniques in the Jatun Sacha
Biological Reserve (Ecuador) for a period of 48 days in October-December 2014.
Three species were found: Polythore mutata (MacLachlan) was the commonest
species (111 individuals marked), Polythore derivata (MacLachlan) was rare (24
individuals) and Polythore concinna (...
We describe female colour morphs and ontogenetic colour changes of Ischnura rufostigma in three populations from China. Females showed two colour morphs, one androchrome, identical to males, and one gynochrome, with orange coloration when immature and green to brown thorax when mature. Population frequencies show that gynochrome females are the mos...
The pace‐of‐life syndrome ( POLS ) hypothesis integrates covariation of life‐history traits along a fast–slow continuum and covariation of behavioural traits along a proactive–reactive personality continuum. Few studies have investigated these predicted life‐history/personality associations among species and between sexes. Furthermore, whether and...
Amphibian reproductive modes are diverse and are characterised by complex
adaptations, including vast variability in life history traits and different parental investment
strategies. For instance, viviparity is rare in urodeles despite the potential ecological
advantages gained in such populations by having semi-independency from water. The fire
sa...
Questions
Questions (3)
The study of non-human animals with an anthropomorphic point of view generates errors because attributes and skills are used in individuals that do not have these properties. Nevertheless, when some term is detected in both (humans and non-humans), why should we employ different terms? It is not a loss in the holistic frame? I have in mind "personality" or "animal personality"; "behavior" or "animal behavior".
Bold or shy behaviour can be modified with individual experience. Seems logical to think that bold individuals can be shyer learning about negative experiences and, in the other hand, shy individuals can be bolder with the lack of this events, but, how they are initially shy (excluding social effects)?
What do you think about its genetic mechanism?
Some studies support that offspring has same/related behaviour than parents. How does the mechanism work?
