Odonatological Abstracts

(362) BIBER, O., 1971. Contribution àia biologie de reproduction et l’alimentation du Guêpier d’Europe Merops apiaster en Camargue. Alauda 39 (3): 209-212. (Stat. biol. Tour de Valut, F-I3 Le Sambuc). A tabular analysis is given of insect debris found in 176 pellets of the Bee-Eater, Merops apiaster, collected in Camargue, France, from 1969 through 1970. In May, in 109 pellets, 1 odon. specimen was encountered, in June 0.3 in 10 pellets, and in July 2 specimens in 57 pellets. The odon. spp. were not further identified. The figures do not seem to differ significantly from those for Diptera, while they seem lower than those for Coleoptera, and higher than those given for Lepidoptera. A comparison of the composition of adult pellets with food offered to young birds shows that Odon. and, in general, larger preys occur more often in the latter than in former. (363) CAMPANELLA, P.J. & L.L. WOLF, 1971. A temporal lek as a mating system in a temperate zone dragonfly. Am. Zool. 11 (4); 627. (Abstract only). – (Dept. Biol., Univ. Syracuse, Syracuse, N.Y., USA). The behavioral ecology of Plathemis lydia (Drury) as studied at several ponds in upstate New York, USA. Animals were captured, marked and released. The population exhibited a daily peak in mating and territoriality. Males actively competed for territorial sites over or near water and showed site specificity with turnover in territorial residents during the day. These defended sites served only as mating stations, not as feeding areas. The dominance of a male, defined by its ability to hold a territory at times of predictable daily peaks of mating attempts, appeared to be an age- related phenomenon. The organization of the mating system was similar to a lek, but with temporally rather than spatially related dominance of individual males. (Verbatim).