Behavioral ecology of larval dragonflies and damselflies.

During the past decade, larval dragonflies and damselflies (Insecta: Odonata) have been the subjects for very productive ecological research. Descriptive field work, enclosure experiments and laboratory behavior studies have identified fish predation, intraguild predation (especially mutual predation among odonates, including cannibalism) and interference competition as particularly strong interactions influencing larval odonate assemblages. Behavioral differences among species suggest evolutionary adaptations for coexistence with different predators, and for winning intraspecific aggressive encounters.