Delayed color maturation of a sexual ornament in males of a damselfly: crypsis, female mimicry or both?

Female mimicry by males is a widespread phenomenon in several taxa and may be involved in aggression avoidance or facilitated access to resources. In early developmental stages, female mimicry may be a mechanism involved in signalling sexual maturity or, coupled with strategies related to visual camouflage, may be involved in the avoidance of male-male agonistic interactions. Here, we addressed whether the delayed colour maturation of a sexual ornament in males of Mnesarete pudica damselflies could be a case of crypsis, female mimicry or both. We analysed how the pigmented wing of juvenile males is perceived by conspecifics by contrasting the wing spectra against a Savannah visual background and the wings of both juvenile and sexually mature male and females. Our results based on the modelled visual system of conspecifics suggest that the color maturation of juvenile males could function as both crypsis and female mimicry. We discuss whether these results related to age- and sexual-dichromatism could be a mechanism to avoid unwanted intraspecific interactions or even to deceive territorial and aggressive males. We conclude that the female mimicry and crypsis in juvenile males of M. pudica are a mechanism involved in signalling sexual maturity and avoidance of unwanted intraspecific interactions.