Sperm transfer in damselflies (Odonata: Zygoptera).

Abstract

Prior to copulation, male odonates transfer sperm from the genital pore on abdominal segment 9 to the accessory genitalia on segment 2, a type of behavior peculiar to this order of insects. Corbet (1963), considering the entire order, states that the time of transfer may vary between and within species, and lists the following times in the reproductive sequence when it may occur: (1) in the unpaired male; (2) after the male grasps the female with his legs, but before doing so with his abdominal appendages ; (3) after the male grasps the female with his abdominal appendages, hereafter referred to as tandem; (4) in more than one of the preceding.