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EFFECT OF TEMPERATURE ON THE LIFE-CYCLE OF ANAX JUNIUS (ODONATA: AESHNIDAE) IN CANADA1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 May 2012

Robert Trottier
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario

Abstract

The effect of temperature on the rate of development of Anax junius Drury was studied. Monthly larval samples were carried out for 2 years and laboratory experiments were conducted at constant temperatures. Field studies, at a eutrophic pond near Toronto, showed that in Canada populations of A. junius are not only maintained by migrants each year but also by residents. Two distinct populations were found, a summer (non-resident) population which developed from oviposition to emergence in approximately 3 months, from June to September, and an overwintering (resident) population which overwintered as half-grown larvae and developed in approximately 11 months from mid-July of one calendar year to the end of June of the next year. The former population was larger and comprised approximately 48% males and the latter was smaller and comprised approximately 41% males. A threshold temperature of development of 8.7° ± 0.1 °C was determined in the laboratory for the development of final-instar larvae of the summer population. The rate of development of final-instar larvae, reared at constant temperature, was similar to that of the entire summer aquatic stages which developed in fluctuating temperature. An average of 1332 degree-days ± 1% was required for development from the onset of oviposition to the onset of emergence of the summer population; whereas 20.5% more degree-days were required for the development of the overwintering population, employing the threshold temperature of 8.7 °C as determined for the summer population.It is recommended that correlation between degree-day totals and duration of larval development be used in further studies as a means for understanding the migration pattern and also the climatic limit of distribution for A. junius.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Entomological Society of Canada 1971

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