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Interactions among coexisting larval Odonata: an in situ experiment using small enclosures

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Abstract

Field experiments using small replicated enclosures focused on interactions between larval populations of Epitheca cynosura and Ladona deplanata (Odonata: Anisoptera) — two species that emerge in early spring. The presence of Epitheca reduced the total biomass of Ladona, but Ladona had no significant effect on Epitheca. These early-emerging species reduced the biomass of small instars of late-emerging Anisoptera which colonized enclosures during the experiments; and the late-emerging Anisoptera seem to have inhibited colonization by Zygoptera larvae. Results are consistent with the importance of predatory (cannibalism or mutual predation) interactions in this community.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Biology, Georgia Institute of Technology, 30332, Atlanta, GA, U.S.A.

    Arthur C. Benke

  2. Thomas Hunt Morgan School of Biological Sciences, University of Kentucky, 40506, Lexington, KY, U.S.A.

    Philip H. Crowley

  3. Department of Biological Sciences, East Tennessee State University, 37614, Johnson City, TN, U.S.A.

    Dan M. Johnson

Authors
  1. Arthur C. Benke
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  2. Philip H. Crowley
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  3. Dan M. Johnson
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Benke, A.C., Crowley, P.H. & Johnson, D.M. Interactions among coexisting larval Odonata: an in situ experiment using small enclosures. Hydrobiologia 94, 121–130 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00010890

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00010890

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