New species records in Acanthagrion, Nehalennia, and Perilestes (Odonata: Zygoptera) for Colombia

Abstract

We record for the first time Acanthagrion jessei, Nehalennia minuta, and Perilestes solutus in Colombia, based on males and females taken at the campus Barcelona at the Universidad de Los Llanos, located in the foothills of the Colombian Eastern Andes in the Orinoco river basin.

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Biota ColomBiana 23 (2) - 2022 |
Artículos
New species records in Acanthagrion,
Nehalennia, and Perilestes (Odonata:
Zygoptera) for Colombia
Nuevos registros de especies en Acanthagrion, Nehalennia y
Perilestes (Odonata: Zygoptera) para Colombia
Karen Lineke Álvarez-Álvarez , Cornelio Andrés Bota-Sierra , Jesús Manuel
Vásquez-Ramos
Abstract
We record for the rst time Acanthagrion jessei, Nehalennia minuta, and Perilestes solutus in Colombia, based on
males and females taken at the campus Barcelona at the Universidad de Los Llanos, located in the foothills of
the Colombian Eastern Andes in the Orinoco river basin.
Key words. Coenagrionidae. Damsely. Meta. Orinoquia. Perilestidae.
Resumen
Registramos Acanthagrion jessei, Nehalennia minuta y Perilestes solutus por primera vez en Colombia, con base en
machos y hembras recolectados en el campus Barcelona de la Universidad de Los Llanos, ubicado en las estri-
baciones de los Andes Orientales colombianos en la cuenca del río Orinoco.
Palabras clave. Caballito del diablo. Coenagrionidae. Meta. Orinoquia. Perilestidae.

https://doi.org/10.21068/2539200X.1061 Álvarez-Álvarez et al.
2| Biota ColomBiana 23 (2) - 2022
Introduction
Colombia is a megadiverse country, as its forests and
freshwater ecosystems create ideal conditions for the
establishment of various species of fauna and flora
(Rangel, 2015). Within the fauna, insects correspond
to 65.3% of the diversity of invertebrates recorded in
the country (Escobar et al., 2020). The odonates in Co-
lombia currently include more than 471 documented
species (Álvarez-Álvarez et al. 2021, Stand-Pérez et al.
2021), and although they do not represent the highest
diversity among insects, it is one of the most studied
groups of insects (Bota-Sierra et al., 2016).
The genus Acanthagrion has a Neotropical distribution,
from southeastern United States to central Argentina
(Garrison et al., 2010), and comprises 42 species, 16 of
which are known to occur in Colombia: Acanthagrion
abunae, A. apicale, A. adustum, A. ascendens, A. oridense,
A. uviatile, A. inexpectum, A. kennedii, A. minutum, A.
lancea, A. obsoletum, A. trilobatum, A. vidua, A. cuyabae,
A. williamsoni, and A. yungarum (Pérez-Gutiérrez & Pa-
lacino-Rodríguez, 2011).
The genus Nehalennia groups six species with a wide dis-
tribution, one in Eurasia and the other ve in the New
World, from Canada to Brazil (Garrison et al., 2010), but
there are no records from Colombia in the literature. The
genus Perilestes has a South American distribution, oc-
curring in the tropical rainforests of Colombia, Venezue-
la, Guyana, Surinam, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and Brazil
(Garrison et al., 2010). Eight species are recognized in the
genus, one of them in Colombia, Perilestes kahli (Pérez-
Gutiérrez & Palacino-Rodríguez, 2011).
Several sampling efforts have been carried out in the
Colombian Orinoco basin (e. g., Bota-Sierra, 2014; Pérez-
Gutiérrez & Palacino-Rodríguez, 2011), and new records
keep being reported from this rich area (Álvarez-Álva-
rez et al. 2021), showing that an intensive exploration of
this region is needed to assess the real number of Odo-
nata species inhabiting this place. Here we present three
new records for the region and the country in the genera
Acanthagrion, Nehalennia, and Perilestes.
Materials and methods
Study site and habitat. Sampling was done in Janu-
ary and December 2020 at the Colombian Eastern An-
des foothills in the Meta department (4°04’20.8”N,
73°34’55.1”W, 380 m a.s.l.; Figure 1), on the Barcelona
Campus (Universidad de los Llanos), where the natural
vegetation corresponded to savanna ecosystem (Jaramil-
lo-Justinico & Rangel-Ch., 2014). The climatic regime is
unimodal, with a rainy season from April to November
and a dry season from December to March (Minorta-Ce-
ly & Rangel-Ch., 2014). The maximum temperature re-
ported is 32°C and the minimum is 20°C (IDEAM, 2019).
Map elaboration. A search for historic records of the
species was carried out via Google Academic, using
the following keywords: checklist, distribution, Odo-
nata, Coenagrionidae, Perilestidae, Acanthagrion, Neha-
lennia, Perilestes, new records, A. jessei, N. minuta, and
P. solutus. The resulting localities lacking geographic
coordinates were approximated using Google Earth.
Records from the Global Biodiversity Information Fa-
cility (GBIF, 2021) were included. The resulting map
was generated by entering the records in the free access
program Quantum GIS, version 3.18.2 (QGIS, 2021).
Specimen identications. Specimens were deposited
in the entomological collection at the Museo de Histo-
ria Natural Unillanos (MHNU-E). The specimens of A.
jessei under the codes MHNU-E 2983, 3141,3193, 3228,
3268, 3269 and 3293; N. minuta with MHNU-E 3052 and
3056, and P. solutus with MHNU-E 3194 and 3230. Spe-
cimens were identied using an S9i Leica stereoscope
and the taxonomic keys in Leonard (1977), Garrison et
al. (2010), De Marmels (1984) and Williamson & Wi-
lliamson (1924). Photographs were made using a Nikon
D3300 camera, the software Adobe Photoshop 22.4.3
was used to align, stack and edit the photographs. Mea-
surements were made using a digital caliper with a
deviation of 0.05 mm for the abdomen (Ab), fore wing
(FW), hind wing (HW) and total length (TL).
Results
The specimens of P. solutus were captured within a se-
condary forest composed of plants of the genera Poep-
pigia, Didymopanax, Zebrina, and Monstera, which are
distributed around a drainage channel that crosses
through the university campus. A. jessei was captured
ying within secondary forest and around articial
ponds used for sh farming by the Instituto de Acuicul-
tura de la Universidad de los Llanos (IALL). N. minuta
was captured ying in an urban area, characterized
by infrastructure such as classrooms, administrative
buildings and laboratories, surrounded by vegetation
predominated by Poeppigia, Erythrina, Bauhinia, Swiete-
nia, Ceiba, and Ficus.

New species records in Acanthagrion, Nehalennia, and Perilestes
Álvarez-Álvarez et al.
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Figure 1. Geographic distribution of Acanthagrion jessei, Perilestes solutus, and Nehalennia minuta, obtained from literature, GBIF
records, and the new record for Colombia.
We collected seven adults of Acanthagrion jessei Leo-
nard, 1977 (Figure 2a), two adults Nehalennia minuta
(Selys in Sagra, 1857) (Figure 2b), and two adults of
Perilestes solutus Williamson & Williamson, 1924 (Fi-
gure 3). All of them recorded for the rst time for Co-
lombia (Figure 1).
All identied specimens agree with the descriptions
and characteristics known for each of the species. The
specimens of N. minuta match descriptions known for
the species, according to De Marmels (1984), both males
and females present frons sharply angulate (Figure 4a)
and anterior portion of female mesepisterna with a pair
of tubercles (Figure 4b). Measurements (mm) Ab, 21.90;
FW, 12.77; HW, 12.20; TL, 26.78. Female (mm) Ab,23.12;
FW,14.30; HW,14.67; TL, 29.03. P. solutus matches des-
criptions known for the species according to William-
son & Williamson (1924), including males with sternum
7-10 bright blue and females with segment 9 each side
with a large lateral light brown spot (Figure 5). Mea-
surements: males, Ab, 41.96; FW, 21.40; HW, 20.25; TL,
39.87 (mm). Females, Ab, 37.87; FW, 22.55; HW, 21.88;
TL, 43.06 (mm). Specimens of A. jessei and A. temporale
are usually very similar, Leonard (1977) mainly uses
the ligula shape to separate these species (Figure 6a),
but we also found that the shape of the cerci allows to
differentiate them A. jessei has a dorsoapical bifurcated
tubercle in the cercus, which can be observed in poste-
rior view (Figure 6b); this same tubercle is present in A.
temporale, but in this species it is not bifurcated. Also,
in lateral view the external border of cercus of A. tem-
porale is sinuous while in A. jessei it is straight (Figure
6c). Measurements of the four male specimens were
(mm): Ab, 21.11; FW, 14.35; HW, 13.58; TL, 25.50. Mea-
surements of the three female specimens were (mm):
Ab, 24.07; FW, 18.42; HW, 17.12; TL, 28.72.

https://doi.org/10.21068/2539200X.1061 Álvarez-Álvarez et al.
4| Biota ColomBiana 23 (2) - 2022
Figure 2. Adult Odonata collected at the Universidad de los Llanos, Meta, Colombia. A, Acanthagrion jessei couple; B, Neha-
lennia minuta female.
Figure 3. Adults of Perilestes solutus collected at the Universidad de los Llanos, Colombia. A, female; B, male.

New species records in Acanthagrion, Nehalennia, and Perilestes
Álvarez-Álvarez et al.
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Biota ColomBiana 23 (2) - 2022 |
Figure 4. Morphological details of Nehalennia minuta female captured at Universidad de los Llanos, Meta, Colombia. A, frons
sharply angulate; B, mesepisterna with a pair of tubercles.
Figure 5. Morphological details of Perilestes solutus captured at Universidad de los Llanos, Meta, Colombia. A, males with
sternum 7-10 bright blue; B, male head in dorsal view; C, abdominal segments 7-10 of female in lateral view; D, female head
in dorsal view.
Figure 6. Morphological details of Acanthagrion jessei captured at Universidad de los Llanos, Meta, Colombia. A, ligula in la-
teral view; B, cerci in dorsoapical view; C, cerci in lateral view.

https://doi.org/10.21068/2539200X.1061 Álvarez-Álvarez et al.
6| Biota ColomBiana 23 (2) - 2022
Discussion
Habitat use recorded here for the three species coincides
with those described for each of the genera. N. minuta
was captured in the urban area of the university campus,
100 m from the drainage channel that crosses it and the
ponds used for sh farming. Adults of the genus Neha-
lennia are known to inhabit grasslands around ponds or
streams with slow moving water (Garrison et al., 2010).
The adults of genus Perilestes are forest stream dwellers
(Williamson & Williamson, 1924); P. solutus was found
in the secondary forest, which together with the drain-
age channel, create the ideal conditions for the establish-
ment of this specie. Finally, slow backwaters of streams
and ponds are the most frequent habitats of the genus
Acanthagrion (Garrison et al., 2010); A. jessei was found in
both habitats generated by anthropic intervention within
the university campus.
The three species have wide distributions, and all of them
were previously recorded in countries neighboring with
Colombia. A. jessei was previously recorded at Guyana,
Peru and Brazil (Leonard, 1977; IUCN, 2020); P. solutus
includes Brazil and Suriname (Bastos et al., 2019; Belle,
2002; Calvão et al., 2014; Garcia-Júnior & Picanco-Souto,
2021; Machado, 2015); and N. minuta has a broader dis-
tribution including Cuba, Suriname, Costa Rica, Mexico,
Dominican Republic, Guyana, United States of America,
Guatemala, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago (De Marmels,
1984; Belle, 2002; Ramírez et al., 2000; Paulson & Dunkle,
2021; GBIF, 2021). The new reports of these species for
Colombia highlight the importance of studying the odo-
natofauna, as much remains to be discovered.
Acknowledgements
We thank the Museo de Historia Natural Unillanos
(MHNU), for the loan of the facilities and equipment
necessary for identication; the Biology Laboratory of
the Universidad de Los Llanos, for the loan of the S9i
Leica stereoscopic microscope equipment for taking
photographs; Miguel Ángel Cortés and Jorge Enrique
García Melo, for their help in photo editing, and the re-
viewers for their comments that improved the manu-
script. This is publication number 13 of the MHNU.
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https://doi.org/10.21068/2539200X.1061 Álvarez-Álvarez et al.
8| Biota ColomBiana 23 (2) - 2022
New species records in Acanthagrion, Nehalennia,
and Perilestes (Odonata: Zygoptera) for Colombia
Citation: Álvarez-Álvarez, K. L., Bota-Sierra, C. A. &
Vásquez-Ramos, J. M. (2022). New species records in
Acanthagrion, Nehalennia, and Perilestes (Odonata: Zy-
goptera) for Colombia. Biota Colombiana, 23(2), e1061.
https://doi.org/10.21068/2539200X.1061
Received: August 14, 2021
Accepted: March 1, 2022
Karen Lineke Álvarez-Álvarez
Universidad de los Llanos
Meta, Colombia
karen.alvarez@unillanos.edu.co
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9911-5403
Cornelio Andrés Bota-Sierra
Alabama Museum of Natural History, The University of Alabama
Tuscaloosa, Estados Unidos.
corneliobota@gmail.com
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6555-7913
Jesús Manuel Vásquez-Ramos
Universidad de Antioquia
Medellín, Colombia
jvasques@unillanos.edu.co
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6195-3505