Eur. J. Entomol. 115: 684-696, 2018 | DOI: 10.14411/eje.2018.067

The life cycles of Boyeria irene and Onychogomphus uncatus (Odonata: Aeshnidae, Gomphidae) in western Spain: A biometric studyOriginal article

Tatiana VELASCO-VILLANUEVA1,2, Francisco CAMPOS1, Ulf NORLING3, Manuel FERRERAS-ROMERO2
1 Departamento de Ciencias Experimentales, Universidad Europea Miguel de Cervantes, Calle Padre Julio Chevalier, 2, 47012 Valladolid, Spain; e-mails: tvelascovillanueva@gmail.com, fcampos@uemc.es
2 Departamento de Sistemas Físicos, Químicos y Naturales, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, 41013 Sevilla, Spain; e-mail: mferrom@upo.es
3 Department of Urban Studies, Malmö University, SE-205 06 Malmö, Sweden; e-mails: ulf.norling@comhem.se, ulf.norling@mau.se

Co-occurrence of species with similar trophic requirements, such as odonates, seems to depend both on them occupying different microhabitats and differing in their life-cycles. The life cycles of the dragonflies Boyeria irene and Onychogomphus uncatus were studied in two consecutive years, mainly by systematic sampling of larvae in seven permanent head courses that constitute the upper basin of the River Águeda, western Spain, in the central part of the ranges of these two species. The size ranges of the last five larval stadia of both species were established based on biometric data. The eggs of the egg-overwintering aeshnid hatched in late spring and early summer and for the gomphid hatching peaked in middle-late summer. Both species showed mixed voltinism with "cohort splitting". B. irene had a dominant three-year development (partivoltinism), with some developing in two years (semivoltinism). O. uncatus requires four, sometimes three years to complete development (all partivoltine). B. irene larvae spent the winter before emergence in the last three, maybe four stadia, as a "summer species". O. uncatus mainly behaved as a "spring species", most larvae spending the last winter in the final larval stadium.

Keywords: Odonata, Aeshnidae, Gomphidae, dragonfly, Boyeria irene, Onychogomphus uncatus, life cycle, permanent streams, larval sizes, seasonal regulation, voltinism, Spain

Received: May 28, 2018; Revised: September 8, 2018; Accepted: September 8, 2018; Published online: December 12, 2018  Show citation

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VELASCO-VILLANUEVA, T., CAMPOS, F., NORLING, U., & FERRERAS-ROMERO, M. (2018). The life cycles of Boyeria irene and Onychogomphus uncatus (Odonata: Aeshnidae, Gomphidae) in western Spain: A biometric study. EJE, 115, Article 684-696. https://doi.org/10.14411/eje.2018.067
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