Understanding antipredator strategies of insects: Human presence and escape behaviour in Odonata

Abstract Insects, like many organisms, face widespread human‐driven habitat transformations which are major threats to biodiversity. However, at the same time, transformed areas including cities are increasingly being colonised by wildlife, sometimes serving as important refuges for vulnerable species. Most studies on traits that enable insects to thrive in urban environments have focused on morphology, physiology, and feeding or reproductive strategies, often overlooking behavioural traits, despite evidence from vertebrates showing that tolerance towards humans is key for wildlife to successfully colonise cities. In this study, we tested the effects of urbanisation, along with a range of life‐history, environmental and contextual traits, on tolerance towards humans—measured by flight initiation distance—in 14 Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies) species in western Poland. We found that escape distances were moderately repeatable within species. Urbanisation had a generally weak effect on Odonata escape behaviour; however, odonates delayed their escape at sites with high human presence. We also found that escape distances tended to increase with the observer’ starting distance and species‐specific body size and decrease with perch height. Additionally, male odonates were more likely to escape earlier than females. These results suggest that odonates can sense levels of anthropogenic disturbance and adjust their escape behaviour accordingly. Furthermore, our findings indicate that some basic patterns and principles commonly reported in vertebrates, such as the ability to tolerate human presence and the effect of starting distance and body mass, may also apply to invertebrates. This may have important implications for understanding the ecology and evolution of antipredator strategies in insects and their conservation.