Platycypha caligata

{{Short description|Species of damselfly}}

{{Speciesbox

| image = Platycypha caligata.jpg

| image_caption = Male

| image2 = {{CSS image crop|Image=Dancing Jewel (Platycypha caligata) teneral male.jpg|bSize=260|cWidth=220|cHeight=140|oTop=10|oLeft=10|Location=center}}

| image2_caption = teneral male

| status = LC

| status_system = IUCN3.1

| status_ref = {{cite iucn |author=Clausnitzer, V. |author2=Suhling, F. |author3=Dijkstra, K.-D.B. |date=2016 |title=Platycypha caligata |volume=2016 |page=e.T60005A75241796 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T60005A75241796.en |access-date=11 November 2021}}

| genus = Platycypha

| species = caligata

| authority = (Selys, 1853)

| synonyms = Libellago caligata Selys, 1853

}}

Platycypha caligata, the dancing jewel, is a species of damselfly in the family Chlorocyphidae. It is found in eastern, central and southern Africa from Ethiopia to Angola and South Africa. Its natural habitats include shady parts of subtropical or tropical streams and rivers in forest, woodland, savanna, and shrubland, and shorelines of lakes.

Platycypha caligata female.jpg|female, Ithala Game Reserve

Platycypha_caligata_Dancing_Jewel_Ris_1921.jpg|Description by Ris (1921){{cite journal|last1=Ris|first1=Friedrich|title=The Odonata or Dragonflies of South Africa|journal=Annals of the South African Museum|date=1921|volume=XVIII|pages=245–452|url=http://www.zoology.uct.ac.za/pdf/Ris_1921.pdf|access-date=13 November 2017}}

Males perform remarkable territorial and courtship displays which include flashing and vibrating (foot waggling) their brightly colored legs with flattened tibiae and waving their abdomens.{{cite book|last1=Preston-Mafham|first1=Rod|last2=Preston-Mafham|first2=Ken|title=The encyclopedia of land invertebrate behaviour|date=1993|publisher=MIT Press|location=Cambridge, Mass.|isbn=0262161370|page=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofla0000pres/page/39 39]|edition=1st MIT Press|url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofla0000pres|url-access=registration|quote=Platycypha caligata mating.|access-date=1 November 2014}}{{cite journal|last1=Jennions|first1=M. D.|title=Tibial coloration, fluctuating asymmetry and female choice behaviour in the damselfly Platycypha caligata|journal=Animal Behaviour|date=1998|volume=55|issue=6|pages=1517–1528|doi=10.1006/anbe.1997.0656|pmid=9641997|s2cid=34960347}}{{cite journal|author1=Telford, S.|author2=Barnett, M.|author3=Polakow, Daniel|year=2005|title=The functional significance of tibial displays in the damselfly Platycypha caligata (Selys) (Odonata: Chlorocyphidae)|journal=Journal of Insect Behavior|volume=9|issue=5 |pages=835–839|doi=10.1007/BF02213559 |s2cid=22706989 }} Experimentally varying tibial colours showed functions of anterior and posterior tibial colours to be distinct. The white anterior colouration was vital during courtship to attract mates and achieve tandem formation. Similarly, the red colouration on the posterior of the tibia was necessary for territorial signalling to other males.{{Cite journal |last1=Telford |first1=S. R. |last2=Barnett |first2=M. |last3=Polakow |first3=D. A. |date=1996 |title=The functional significance of tibial displays in the damselfly Platycypha caligata (Selys) (Odonota: Chrocyphidae) |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02213559 |journal=Journal of Insect Behavior |volume=9 |pages=835–839|doi=10.1007/BF02213559 |url-access=subscription }}