ABSTRACT

Traditionally, students of odonate reproductive behavior have focussed on how males compete for access to mates and fertilizations. This tendency has yielded considerable information on male reproductive strategies and on the proximate and ultimate mechanisms involved in malemale competition, but has left numerous gaps in our knowledge of other aspects of odonate mating systems.

We review relevant aspects of odonate biology and examine the extent to which current data on mating patterns support predictions arising from sexual selection theory. Although long–term studies offer some such support, they also indicate that natural selection for longevity and stochastic factors such as weather play critical roles in influencing reproductive success. Relatively little of the variance in male reproductive success in odonates has been traced to variance in male phenotype.

We emphasize the role of females as determinants of odonate mating patterns and discuss sexual conflicts of interest over mating, fertilization, and oviposition decisions. Finally, we explore ways in which natural selection underlies female mating decisions and how larval and adult ecology interact to influence adult reproductive behavior.

INTRODUCTION

The study of mating systems is the study of the behavioral, physiological, and ecological factors that underlie predictable patterns of male and female interactions during reproduction. Much of the literature on mating systems emphasizes male–male competition and its effects on male morphology and behavior. However, fertilization success of males cannot be explained solely by pre– and postcopulatory interactions of males or their gametes (see Alexander et al., this volume).