Abstract
Abstract The status of the Odonata as a model taxon for studying the evolution and diversity of reproductive behaviours is shown here to have declined relative to crickets and Drosophila. Very few available data on ejaculate size, the number of sperm stored by females and the duration of sperm storage reveal poor knowledge of these areas in the Odonata. Some observations tentatively suggest that species without direct sperm removal transfer larger numbers of sperm. Observations on the fertilization success of eggs laid by sexually isolated females and the temporal variation in paternity were used to assess the longevity of the sperm population in the female. The generality of the claim that female odonates have full fecundity after a single mating can not be upheld. In addition, it is not clear whether any possible decrease in fertilization ability in isolated females is due to decreasing sperm quantity or quality. Costs and benefits of sperm longevity, sperm storage and multiple mating are discussed for ...
Highlights
Central to evolutionary biology is the variation in fitness between individuals, an issue that is tightly linked to the evolution of polyandry which, in turn, is connected to areas such as the host-parasite coevolution and sexual selection
There is some evidence for a decline in the proportion of fertilised eggs but this does, in general, not allow to conclude whether fertilization ability is limited by sperm numbers or sperm quality
Fertility may be limited because (1) the life of sperm cells is short, (2) sperm numbers are used up by fertilization, or (3) sperm passively leak from the female genital tract (Gilbert 1981; Tsubaki & Yamagashi 1991; Reinhardt et al 1999)
Summary
Central to evolutionary biology is the variation in fitness between individuals, an issue that is tightly linked to the evolution of polyandry which, in turn, is connected to areas such as the host-parasite coevolution and sexual selection For the latter, the Odonata have, for many years, been the taxon of choice, mainly so because of their unique and diverse modes of sperm competition and their territoriality 11.04 as the opposite should be expected: All papers published in 'Odonatologica', a journal entirely devoted to the study of Odonata entered the database only in 1997 This relative decline indicates that odonates have lost importance in the exciting field of sexual selection I will re-iterate and refine some of them because their easy testability in the odonates hopefully stimulates further research and, promotes odonatology as a scientific field
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