Evolution of the dragonfly head-arresting system

The arrester or fixation system of the head in adult Odonata is unique among arthropods. This system involves the organs of two body segments: the head and the neck. It consists of a skeleton-muscle apparatus that sets the arrester parts in motion. The parts comprise formations covered with complicated microstructures-fields of microtrichia on the rear surface of the head and post-cervical sclerites of the neck. The arrester immobilizes the head during feeding or when the dragonfly is in tandem flight. Thus, it may serve as an adaptation to save the head from violent mechanical disturbance and to stabilize gaze in a variety of behavioural situations. This study shows the evolutionary trend of the arrester in the order Odonata by using scanning electron microscopy and measurements of arrester structures in 227 species from 26 odonate families. The arrester design occurring in the Epiophlebiidae, Gomphidae, Neopetaliidae, Petaluridae and Chlorogomphinae is suggested to be the basic one. Two convergent pathways of head-arrester evolution among Zygoptera and Anisoptera are proposed. The possible functional significance of the arrester system is discussed.