Abstract
Males of Brechmorhoga pertinax(Hagen) patrolled and competed for narrow strips of stream edge, 2–8 m long, containing a few barely submerged patches of sandy or fine gravel substrate. These scarce patches were used as oviposition sites by females that usually, but not always, mated with a patrolling male just prior to egg-laying. Females visited the oviposition sites evenly throughout the day from 0830 to 1430 but male activity rose until midday and then declined sharply after 1330. Some gravid females refused to mate in the midafternoon despite male efforts to copulate with them. The average patrolling bout by a male lasted less than 15 min, with defenders usually leaving immediately after one or two aggressive interactions with intruders or leaving voluntarily without apparent cause. Many individuals returned for additional bouts of patrolling at the same site, but the total daily period of patrolling for any one individual almost never exceeded 1 h.
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Alcock, J. The mating system ofBrechmorhoga pertinax (Hagen): The evolution of brief patrolling bouts in a “territorial” dragonfly (Odonata: Libellulidae). J Insect Behav 2, 49–62 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01053618
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01053618