Reproductive behaviour of the territorial damselfly Calopteryx haemorrhoidalis asturica Ocharan (Zygoptera: Calopterygidae)

The reproductive behaviour of C. h. asturica is described. Males fought with each other for the possession of territories which contained the oviposition resource required by females. Females arrived at territories and either copulated and left the territory, copulated and oviposited in that territory or oviposited without a preceding copulation with the territorial male. Territorial males seemed to have a higher mating success than nonterritorial males. Males carried out courtship displays before and after copulation until females finished oviposition. Copulation was divided in two stages which were characterised by the nature of the male’s abdominal flexions. The number of abdominal flexions during stage I and II was 50.2 ± 7.2 and 54.5 ± 16.7 (mean ± s.d.) respectively. The sexual behaviour of both sexes is discussed under current knowledge of sexual selection studies in Calopterygidae.