Ischnura Perparvamclachlan (Zygoptera: Coenagrionidae) Has an Andromorphic Female, and Another Suggestion to Modify the Terminology of Female Color Polymorphism in Odonata

Polymorphism in lschnura perparvaThere is considerable theoretical interest in the polymorphism shown by females of some species ofOdonata (Johnson, 1975Robertson, 1985Hinnekint, 1987Cordero, 1992;Fincke 1994).This polymorphism is especially conspicuous in many species of lschnura, in which it is correlated with other traits (Robinson & Allgeyer 1996).Robinson & Allgeyer (1996) and Westfall & May (1996) listed all 12 North American /schnura species as polymorphic, with the exception of /. demorsa, /. hastata, I. perparva, and /. posita, which were considered monomorphic.However, I recently examined all 235 female /.perparva in my collection and found two andromorphic individuals, along with 16 immature (orange) gynomorphic, 216 mature (pruinose ), and one clearly intermediate between the last two.The andromorphic females were collected in Washington state, from a pond 0.5 mi E Beverly, Grant Co., 5 August 1972, and a lake west of Lower Hampton Lake, Grant Co., 27 July 1973.The andromorphic females, both quite young, differ from my sample of gynomorphic immatures and the detailed description of the female by Kennedy (1915) in three ways, involving both color and pattern.First, although the markings are similar, the pale color of the head, thorax, and legs is light tan, paler and duller than the rather bright orange characteristic of gynomorphic females.In that, it is similar to the coloration of very young males.Second, the pale color on abdominal segments 8-10 is light blue rather than the orange characteristic of gynomorphs, although it is patterned much the same, with a black U-shaped marking on the dorsum of segment 8, black basal dorsolateral spots on segment 9, and no black markings on segment 10.Third, the basal abdominal segments are extensively black above.The dorsum of segment 1 is black in its basal one-third in one specimen, mostly black in the other.The dorsum of segment 2 is black from base to tip, but the black narrows almost to the midline at about mid segment and again narrows just before the posterior black ring.The dorsum of segment 3 is entirely black, the black narrowing almost to the midline at two-thirds length in one specimen.This is strikingly different from the gynomorph