Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2plfb Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T03:26:16.588Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Life cycle and diet of Zygonyx iris insignis (Insecta: Odonata: Anisoptera) in Hong Kong running waters

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

David Dudgeon  and
Christina Y. M. Wat
David Dudgeon
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Christina Y. M. Wat
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Zygonix iris is widespread in tropical Asia, and larvae are sprawlers/clingers on rock surfaces in fast-flowing streams and rivers. In the Lam Tsuen River, Hong Kong, this species is univoltine; emergence occurs prior to the summer monsoon and larval recruitment during the wet season. Studies on larval dietary composition in four habitats indicated that Z. iris is a generalist predator, consuming epibenthic prey taxa in proportion to their abundance in the environment. Larval Chironomidae (Diptera) and Baetis (Ephemeroptera) were the commonest food items at all sites and there was little consistent evidence of preference for individual taxa. Larger Z. iris larvae tended to consume more prey taxa than did smaller larvae, and Baetis prey size was positively correlated with predator size. No size selection of chironomid larvae was apparent. Despite its unusual larval habit, Z. iris is a generalist feeder resembling lotic and lentic temperate-zone Odonata.

Keywords

AnisopteradietHong Konglife cycleOdonatarunning waterZygonyx iris
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 2 , Issue 1 , February 1986 , pp. 73 - 85
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1986

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

LITERATURE CITED

Allan, J. D. 1982. Feeding habits and prey consumption of three setipalpian stoneflies (Plecoptera) in a mountain stream. Ecology 63:26–34.Google Scholar
Asahina, S. 1965. The Odonata of Hong Kong. Kontyû 33:493–506.Google Scholar
Asahina, S. 1978. Notes on Chinese Odonata, IX. Kellogg collection in the U.S. National Museum of Natural History. Tombo 21:2–14.Google Scholar
Bishop, J. E. 1973. Limnology of a small Malayan river, Sungai Gombak. Dr W. Junk Publishers, The Hague. 485 pp.Google Scholar
Blois, C. 1985. The larval diet of three anisopteran (Odonata) species. Freshwater Biology 15:505–514.Google Scholar
Cock, M. J. W. 1978. The assessment of preference. Journal of Animal Ecology 47:805–816.Google Scholar
Corbet, P. S. 1980. Biology of Odonata. Annual Review of Entomology 25:189–217.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Corbet, P. S. 1981. Seasonal incidence of Anisoptera in light-traps in Trinidad, West Indies. Odonatologica 10:179–187.Google Scholar
Dudgeon, D. 1982a. Spatial and temporal changes in the sediment characteristics of Tai Po Kau Forest Stream, New Territories, Hong Kong, with some preliminary observations upon within-stream varia-tions in current velocity. Archiv für Hydrobiologie/Supplement 64:36–64.Google Scholar
Dudgeon, D. 1982b. The life history of Brotia hainanensis (Brot, 1872) (Gastropoda: Prosobranchia: Thiaridae) in a tropical forest stream. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 76:141–154.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dudgeon, D. 1984a. Seasonal and long-term changes in the hydrobiology of the Lam Tsuen River, New Territories, Hong Kong, with special reference to benthic macroinvertebrate distribution and abundance. Archiv für Hydrobiologie/Supplement 69:55–129.Google Scholar
Dudgeon, D. 1984b. Longitudinal and temporal changes in functional organization of macroinvertebrate communities in the Lam Tsuen River, Hong Kong. Hydrobiologia 111:207–217.Google Scholar
Furtado, J. I. 1969. Ecology of Malaysian odonates: biotopes and association of species. Verhandlungen Internationale Vereiningung für theoretische und angewandte Limnologie 17:863–887.Google Scholar
Harker, J. E. 1953. An investigation of the mayfly fauna of a Lancashire stream. Journal of Animal Ecology 22:1–13.Google Scholar
Hynes, H. B. N. 1950. The food of freshwater sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus and Pygosteus pun-gitius) with a review of methods used in studies of the food of fishes. Journal of Animal Ecology 19:36–58.Google Scholar
Jacobs, J. 1974. Quantitative measurement of food selection. A modification of the forage ratio and Ivlev's selectivity index. Oecologia (Berlin) 14:413–417.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johnson, J. H. 1982. Diet composition and prey selection of Cordulegaster maculata Sel. larvae (Ani-soptera: Cordulegastridae). Notulae Odonatologicae 1:151–153.Google Scholar
Kirby, W. F. 1900. On a small collection of Odonata (dragonflies) from Hainan, collected by the late John Whitehead. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 5:530–539.Google Scholar
Koslucher, D. G. & Minshall, G. W. 1973. Food habits of some benthic invertebrates in a northern cool-desert stream (Deep Creek, Curlew Valley, Idaho-Utah). Transactions of the American Microscopical Society 92:441–452.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lawton, J. H. 1970. Feeding and food energy assimilation in larvae of the damselfly Pyrrhosoma nymphula (Sulz.) (Odonata: Zygoptera). Journal of Animal Ecology 39:669–89.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Menge, B. A. 1972. Foraging strategy of a starfish in relation to actual prey availability and environmental predictability. Ecological Monographs 42:25–50.Google Scholar
Molles, M. C. Jr & Pietruszka, R. D. 1983. Mechanisms of prey selection by predaceous stoneflies: roles of prey morphology, behaviour and predator hunger. Oecologia (Berlin) 57:25–31.Google Scholar
Pearre, S. Jr 1982. Estimating prey preference by predators: uses of various indices, and a proposal of another based on x2. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Science 39:914–923.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pianka, E. R. & Pianka, H. D. 1976. Comparative ecology of twelve species of nocturnal lizards (Gekkonidae) in the western Australian desert. Copeia 1976:125–142.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pritchard, G. 1964. The prey of dragonfly larvae (Odonata: Anisoptera) in ponds in northern Alberta. Canadian Journal of Zoology 42:785–800.Google Scholar
Sheldon, A. L. 1969. Size relationships of Acroneuria californica (Perlidae, Plecoptera) and its prey. Hydrobiologia 34:85–94.Google Scholar
Sheldon, A. L. 1972. Comparative ecology of Arcynopteryx and Diura (Plecoptera) in a California stream. Archiv für Hydrobiologie 69:521–546.Google Scholar
St Quentin, D. 1973. Contributions to the ecology of the larvae of some Odonata from Ceylon. Bulletin of the Fisheries Research Station, Sri Lanka (Ceylon) 24:113–124.Google Scholar
Thompson, D. J. 1978a. The natural prey of the larvae of the damselfly, Ischnura elegans (Odonata: Zygoptera). Freshwater Biology 8:377–384.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thompson, D. J. 1978b. Prey size selection by larvae of the damselfly, Ischnura elegans (Odonata). Journal of Animal Ecology 47:769–785.Google Scholar