Winter survival by dragonfly adults in the Cape Floristic Region

Little is known about the ability of adult dragonfly individuals to survive into or over the winter in the Cape Floristic Region (CFR), a significant biodiversity hotspot in South Africa. Dragonfly species richness and abundance were recorded throughout winter and into spring in Jonkershoek Nature Reserve. Several environmental variables were also measured. Individuals of eight…

The response of larval growth rate to temperature in three species of coenagrionid dragonflies with some comments on Lestes disjunctus (Odonata: Coenagrionidae, Lestidae)

Larval growth rate has the same temperature coefficient in three species of coenagrionids, but Argia vivida and Amphiagrion abbreviatum, which frequently live in geothermally heated water, grow fastest at 29.0–30.0°C compared with 23.4°C for Coenagrion resolutum, which lives in cooler water. Survival below 15°C in the laboratory was much better in C. resolutum. These characteristics…