A Description of Territorial Behavior and a Quantitative Study of its Function in Males ofHetaerina americana(Fabricius) (Odonata: Agriidae)

Abstract

The present work was predominantly stimulated by Moore (1953, 1957) in his studies on the functions of dragonfly territoriality. The objective of this study has been to describe the territorial behavior ofHetaerina americanamales and to obtain quantitative information on its function by the capture mark recapture method. Population analyses by marking and recapturing have made possible the calculation of many factors of ecological importance. Flying insects have received especial attention from Dowdeswell, Fisher, and Ford (1940) and Fisher and Ford (1947) for the Lepidoptera and from Jackson (1948) for the tsetse-fly. Borror (1934) was among the first to utilize marking methods for studies on the Odonata. Several investigators have since used such methods for these insects. Corbet (1952) has shown the Odonata to be quite suitable for quantitative study by these methods. Observations on territoriality were made from March to August, 1960, on the San Marcos River, San Marcos, Texas, the San Marcos River, Palmetto State Park, Texas, the San Gabriel River, Georgetown, Texas, and on the Colorado River, 15 miles west of Austin, Texas. The population study was also carried on at the latter habitat in the summer of 1960 from July 4 to August 2 in which 340 individuals were marked and a total of 396 recaptures were recovered.