Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-l7hp2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T05:11:41.897Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

LARVAL GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF ARGIA VIVIDA (ODONATA: COENAGRIONIDAE) IN WARM SULPHUR POOLS AT BANFF, ALBERTA

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 May 2012

Gordon Pritchard  and
Brian Pelchat
Gordon Pritchard
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta T2N 1N4
Brian Pelchat
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta T2N 1N4
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Samples of a population of Argia vivida Hagen larvae were taken at about monthly intervals from a series of warm sulphur pools at Banff, Alberta, from June 1973 to December 1974. Changes in head capsule width and wing pad length in field-collected and laboratory-reared specimens show that the life-cycle is univoltine. Only the final (Z) instar can be recognized with certainty, but methods are described whereby the population can be divided into size classes which are thought to correspond well with the last nine larval instars. Periods of rapid growth occur in the autumn and again in the spring. Larvae overwinter in the instars U, V, W, X, and Y and the major shift to the final instar occurs in March and April. Adults emerge from April to August. In the laboratory, growth is temperature dependent until the penultimate (Y) instar and this could be a factor in the field since, although larvae can exist year-round at a constant 26 °C, some larvae live in the cooler areas at the edges of the streams and pools. Entry to the final instar appears to require the long photoperiods that follow the vernal equinox.

Type
Articles
Information
The Canadian Entomologist , Volume 109 , Issue 12 , December 1977 , pp. 1563 - 1570
Copyright
Copyright © Entomological Society of Canada 1977

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Benke, A.C. 1970. A method for comparing individual growth rates of aquatic insects with special reference to the Odonata. Ecology 51: 328–331.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Corbet, P.S. 1962. A biology of dragonflies. Witherby, London.Google Scholar
Kennedy, C.H. 1915. Notes on the life history and ecology of dragonflies (Odonata) of Washington and Oregon. Proc. U.S. natl. Mus. 49: 259–345.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
*Janetschek, H. 1967. Growth and maturity of the springtail Gomphiocephalus hodgsoni Carpenter, from South Victoria Land and Ross Island. Antarctic Res. Serv. 10, Entomology of Antarctica. pp. 295–305.Google Scholar
Lutz, P.E. 1968. Effects of temperature and photoperiod on larval development in Lestes eurinus (Odonata: Lestidae). Ecology 49: 637–644.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lutz, P.E. 1974. Effects of temperature and photoperiod on larval development in Tetragoneuria cynosura (Odonata: Libellulidae). Ecology 55: 370–377.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McClure, R.G. and Stewart, K.W.. 1976. Life cycle and production of the mayfly Choroterpes (Neochoroterpes) mexicanus Allen. Ann. ent. Soc. Am. 69: 134–144.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parr, M.J. 1970. The life histories of Ischnura elegans (van der Linden) and Coenagrion puella (L.) (Odonata) in south Lancashire. Proc. R. ent. Soc. Lond. (A) 45: 172–181.Google Scholar
Pritchard, G. 1971. Argia vivida (Odonata: Coenagrionidae) in hot pools at Banff. Can. Fld Nat. 85: 187–188.Google Scholar
Pritchard, G. 1976. Growth and development of larvae and adults of Tipula sacra Alexander (Insecta: Diptera) in a series of abandoned beaver ponds. Can. J. Zool. 54: 266–284.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pritchard, G. and Leischner, T.G.. 1973. The life history and feeding habits of Sialis cornuta Ross in a series of abandoned beaver ponds (Insecta: Megaloptera). Can. J. Zool. 51: 121–131.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walker, E.M. 1953. The Odonata of Canada and Alaska. Vol. I. Univ. of Toronto Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wellington, W.G. 1957. Individual differences as a factor in population dynamics: the development of a problem. Can. J. Zool. 35: 293–323.CrossRefGoogle Scholar