A phylogeographic test of reproductive character displacement in the damselfly Argia moesta (Odonata: Coenagrionidae)

The damselfly Argia moesta (Odonata: Coenagrionidae) has a wide geographic distribution, ranging from temperate Canada to Southern Mexico. The number of sympatric congeners varies considerably across this range. As such, A. moesta presents an opportunity to test the hypothesis of reproductive character displacement by reinforcing selection. We examine the morphological variation among populations of A. moesta using 3-D morphometric analysis of computer tomographic scans of the clasping structures used during copulation. We examine the phylogeographic population structure of the species based on variation in common neutral molecular markers. We compare these data with expectations based on either a lock-and-key paradigm for mechanical isolation of biological species, versus one of female choice among males of the same species.