6533b86dfe1ef96bd12ca88d

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Lifetime egg production of captive libellulids (Odonata)

subject

description

The estimation of lifetime egg production (LEP) is a central question in ecology, since the number of eggs produced determines the potential size of the following generation. In this study, I tried to obtain a rough estimation of the LEPs in libellulids in outdoor cages. The main questions were: (1) does hand feeding influence females’ life history traits; (2) how long is the maturation period and the lifespan; (3) does the quality/quantity of eggs vary with female age or size; and (4) how many eggs do females lay in their lifetime? I installed two outdoor cages and kept individually marked specimens of Orthetrum coerulescens and Sympetrum striolatum under semi-natural circumstances. Orthetrum coerulescens had a longer life span in hand-fed specimens compared to not hand-fed. The maturation period, number of clutches, clutch size, egg circumference, and LEP did not differ between hand-fed and not hand-fed specimens. The median maturation period was shorter in O. coerulescens (24 days hand-fed; 20 days not...