Urban sports fields as a potential evolutionary trap for polarotactic dragonflies

The rapid development of artificial, man-made environments may unintentionally produce evolutionary traps, where the cues that organisms rely on to indicate high-fitness resources are mismatched with novel resources that deliver low fitness outcomes. In this study, we identify urban sports fields as a new source of ecological trap surfaces, which globe skimmers (Pantala flavascens) lay their eggs on. We found that dragonflies preferred to lay eggs on green and blue sports field surfaces, but rarely did so on red surfaces. In this attraction both colour and polarization can play an important role, because dragonflies are colour- and polarization-sensitive. Reflectance spectrum analysis showed that red was most distinct from the other colors, highlighting the importance of sensory preferences for determining where eggs were laid. Given that we did not measure the polarized reflection of the field, our conclusions were derived in the context of a presumed polarized background. Future research is needed to investigate the interaction between dragonfly polarization vision and color vision. These results identify sports fields as an evolutionary trap enticing dragonflies to oviposit on unsuitable substrates. There is an urgent need to further evaluate the potential impact of this phenomenon on dragonfly populations in urban environments. By optimizing the substrate and color design of sports fields, it might mitigate threats to dragonfly populations and provide support for the conservation of insect biodiversity in urban ecosystems.