Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Lifetime mating success in a natural population of the damselfly, Enallagma hageni (Walsh) (Odonata: Coenagrionidae)

  • Published:
Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Summary

Variance in lifetime mating success was measured for individuals of a population of Enallagma hageni, a non-territorial damselfly in northern Michigan. E. hageni is an explosive breeder with scramble competition for mates. Highly skewed operational sex ratios resulted in intense male-male competition which took the form of interference with tandem pairs. 41% of the males failed to mate in their lifetime as opposed to only 3.6% mating failure in females. The effect on mating success of size, age, longevity, and time spent at the breeding site were investigated. Intermediate sized males obtained the most matings, and male lifetime mating success was highly correlated with longevity.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Alcock J (1981) Lek territoriality in the tarantula hawk wasp Hemipepsis ustulata (Hymenoptera: Pompilidae). Behav Ecol Sociobiol 8:309–317

    Google Scholar 

  • Alexander RD, Hoogland JL, Howard RD, Noonan KM, Sherman PW (1978) Sexual selection and breeding systems in pinnipeds, ungulates, primates, humans. In: Chaquon NA, Irons WG (eds) Evolutionary biology and human social behavior. Duxbury Press, North Scituate, Massachusetts

    Google Scholar 

  • Bateman AJ (1948) Intra-sexual selection in Drosophila. Heredity 2:349–368

    Google Scholar 

  • Berven KA (1981) Mate choice in the wood frog, Rana sylvatica. Evolution 35:707–722

    Google Scholar 

  • Bick GH, Bick JH (1963) Behavior and population structure of the damselfly Enallagma civila (Hagen) (Odonata: Coenagrionidae). Southwest Nat 8:57–84

    Google Scholar 

  • Borgia G (1981) Mate selection in the fly Scatophaga stercoraria: female choice in a male-controlled system. Anim Beh 29:71–80

    Google Scholar 

  • Campanella PJ, Wolf LL (1974) Temporal leks as a mating system in a temperate zone dragonfly (Odonata: Anisoptera) I. Plathemis lydia (Drury). Behaviour 51:49–87

    Google Scholar 

  • Corbet PS (1962) A biology of dragonflies. Witherby Press, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Crow JF, Kimura M (1970) An introduction to population genetics theory. Burgess Press, Minneapolis

    Google Scholar 

  • Emlen ST (1976) Lek organization and mating strategies in the bullfrog. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 1:283–313

    Google Scholar 

  • Emlen ST, Oring LW (1977) Ecology, sexual selection, and the evolution of mating systems. Science 197:215–223

    Google Scholar 

  • Garrison RW (1978) A mark recapture study of imaginal Enallagma cyathigerum (Charpentier) and Argia vivida (Hagen) (Zygoptera: Coenagrionidae). Odonatologia 7:223–236

    Google Scholar 

  • Gibson RM, Guinness FE (1980) Differential reproduction among red deer (Cervus elaphus) stags on Rhum. J Anim Ecol 49:199–208

    Google Scholar 

  • Howard RD (1978) The evolution of mating strategies in bullfrogs, Rana catesbeiana. Evolution 32:850–871

    Google Scholar 

  • Jacobs ME (1955) Studies on territorialism and sexual selection in dragonflies. Ecology 36:566–586

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson C (1964) Mating expectancies and sex ratio in the damselfly Enallagma praevarum (Odonata: Coenagrionidae). Southwest Nat 9:297–304

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson LK (1982) Sexual selection in a brentid weevil. Evolution 36 (in press)

  • Jolly GM (1965) Explicit estimates from capture-recapture data with both death and immigration-stochastic model. Biometrika 53:225–247

    Google Scholar 

  • Kvelland I (1965) Some observations on the mating activity and fertility of Drosophila melanogaster males. Hereditas 53:281–306

    Google Scholar 

  • LeBoeuf BJ (1974) Male-male competition and reproductive success in elephant seals. Am Zool 14:163–176

    Google Scholar 

  • Lefevre G Jr, Jonsson UB (1962) Sperm transfer, storage, displacement and utilization in Drosophila melanogaster. Genetics 47:1719–1736

    Google Scholar 

  • Mason LG (1964) Stabilizing selection for mating fitness in natural populations of Tetraopes. Evolution 18:492–497

    Google Scholar 

  • McLain DK (1981) Interspecific interference competition and mate choice in the soldier beetle, Chauliognathus pennsylvanicus. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 9:65–66

    Google Scholar 

  • Miller PL, Miller CA (1981) Field observations on copulatory behavior in zygoptera with an examination of the structure and activity of the male genitalia. Odonatologica 10:201–218

    Google Scholar 

  • Parr MJ, Palmer M (1971) The sex ratios, mating frequencies and mating expectancies of three coenagriids (Odonata: Zygoptera) in northern England. Entomol Scand 2:191–204

    Google Scholar 

  • Payne RB, Payne K (1977) Social organization and mating success in local song populations of village indigobirds, Vidua chalybeata. Z Tierpsychol 45:113–173

    Google Scholar 

  • Scheiring JF (1977) Stabilizing selection for size as related to mating fitness in Tetraopes. Evolution 31:447–449

    Google Scholar 

  • Severinghaus LL, Kurtak BH, Eickwort GC (1981) The reproductive behavior of Anthidium manicatum (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae) and the significance of size for territorial males. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 9:51–58

    Google Scholar 

  • Templeton AR (1980) The theory of speciation via the founder principle. Genetics 94:1011–1038

    Google Scholar 

  • Thornhill R (1979) Male and female sexual selection and the evolution of mating strategies in insects. IN: Blum MS, Blum NA (eds) Sexual selection and reproductive competition in insects. Academic Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Thornhill R (1980) Sexual selection within mating swarms of the lovebug, Plecia neartica (Diptera: Bibionidae). Anim Behav 28:405–412

    Google Scholar 

  • Waage J (1979a) Dual function of the damselfly penis: sperm removal and transfer. Science 203:916–918

    Google Scholar 

  • Waage J (1979b) Adaptive significance of postcopulatory guarding of mates and nonmates by male Calopteryx maculata (Odonata). Behav Ecol Sociobiol 6:147–154

    Google Scholar 

  • Waage J (1982) Sperm competition and the evolution of odonate mating systems. In: Smith RL (ed) Sperm competition and the evolution of mating systems. Academic Press, New York (in press)

    Google Scholar 

  • Wade ML, Arnold SJ (1980) The intensity of sexual selection in relation to male sexual behavior, female choice, and sperm precedence. Anim Behav 28:446–461

    Google Scholar 

  • Wells KD (1977) Territoriality and male mating success in the green frog (Rana clamitans). Ecology 58:750–762

    Google Scholar 

  • Wells KD (1979) Reproductive behavior and male mating success in a neotropical toad, Bufo typhonius. Biotropica 11:301–307

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Zoology, The University of Iowa, 52242, Iowa City, Iowa, USA

    Ola M. Fincke

Authors
  1. Ola M. Fincke
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Fincke, O.M. Lifetime mating success in a natural population of the damselfly, Enallagma hageni (Walsh) (Odonata: Coenagrionidae). Behav Ecol Sociobiol 10, 293–302 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00302820

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00302820

Keywords

Search

Navigation