Journal
ZOOLOGICAL SCIENCE
Volume 27, Issue 4, Pages 325-329Publisher
ZOOLOGICAL SOC JAPAN
DOI: 10.2108/zsj.27.325
Keywords
damselfly; egg size; fecundity; female polymorphism; K-strategy; reproductive strategy; r-strategy; egg production
Categories
Funding
- Japan Society for the Promotion of Science [20-104]
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Females of coenagrionid damselflies exhibit color dimorphism, consisting of an andromorph and a gynomorph. This study compared reproductive traits between the female morphs in both field-captured and laboratory-reared females of the female-dimorphic damselfly Ischnura senegalensis. No difference was found in the onset of egg development between the morphs. The andromorphs developed significantly smaller mature eggs and had significantly more immature eggs than the gynomorphs. These results suggest that the andromorphs are r-strategists (high fecundity with small eggs), whereas the gynomorphs are K-strategists (low fecundity with large eggs). Fecundity and egg size might determine the quantity and quality of the offspring, respectively, indicating that morph-specific reproductive traits would contribute to the overall fitness of each female morph, and consequently be key factors affecting morph frequency in a population.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available