Short-term mating success of male Coenagrion puella (L.) (Zygoptera: Coenagrionidae)

Male size decreased through the breeding season. Several phenotypic characters of paired, unpaired but patrolling, and feeding males were measured and compared. There was no significant difference in mean wing loading between paired and patrolling individuals, but paired males had a lower wing loading than feeding males. No blue colour differences could be detected between paired and unpaired males. There were no differences in the mean amount of black markings between paired and unpaired males though there was significantly less variation in the index of blackness among paired than among patrolling individuals. Also there was no difference in size of the ”U-shaped" mark on the second abdominal segment between paired and unpaired males. The difficulties in quantifying the proportion of non-random variation in mating success are discussed.