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Ontogenetic Behaviour Changes in Larvae of the Damselfly Ischnura verticalis (Odonata: Coenagrionidae)
Author(s) -
Richardson Jean M. L.,
Anholt Bradley R.
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
ethology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.739
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1439-0310
pISSN - 0179-1613
DOI - 10.1111/j.1439-0310.1995.tb00368.x
Subject(s) - damselfly , coenagrionidae , odonata , biology , ontogeny , larva , instar , zoology , predation , ecology , genetics
Larvae of most animals go through large changes in size. Because change in size can lead to changes in ability to gain food and in predation risk, changes in behaviour are predicted to reflect this. Models consider change in amounts of the same behaviour, but different selective pressures on different larval sizes may also lead to qualitative differences in behavioural repertoire. In the damselfly Ischnura verticalis we observed ontogenetic changes in behaviour under controlled laboratory conditions. We found that frequency and duration of feeding behaviour and behaviour related to activity were increased in larger instars. Larger larvae also had higher transition probabilities to the behaviour abdomen wave, straight abdomen raise, and rotate + head out. We also found that the behavioural repertoire of damselfly larvae changed with development: some behavioural patterns were performed almost exclusively by smaller larvae (F ‐ 4 to F ‐ 7) while others were performed almost exclusively by larger larvae (F ‐ 3 to F ‐ 0).