Factors affecting site fidelity in a territorial animal,Perithemis tenera

Abstract

This study investigated the factors affecting the site fidelity of the eastern amberwing dragonfly,Perithemis tenera(Odonata: Anisoptera), following the framework and testing the predictions of a theoretical model (Switzer 1993;Evol. Ecol., 7, 533–555). Male amberwings defended territories around oviposition sites during the day and left the pond vicinity in the evening. Individuals were highly site-faithful between days: 32.5% of the time males returned to the same oviposition site, and 62.3% of the time males returned to within 3 m of their previous site. Mating success on the pond was temporally predictable and spatially variable. As the model predicted from these habitat characteristics, individuals were more likely to be site-faithful if they had obtained a mating at the site the day before, if their territory was of relatively high quality and when they were older. Males that voluntarily changed oviposition sites between days moved to higher-quality territories. In contrast to some other odonate and avian studies, territory evictions caused considerable site infidelity in amberwings both within and between days. Evictions caused most moves within a day, but the majority of moves between days were voluntary.