Intensive feeding of the robberfly Eutolmus rufibarbis (Diptera Asilidae) on the damselflies Enallagma cyathigerum and Lestes sponsa (Odonata)
1996
Stoks, R. | Bruyn, L. de (Rijksuniversitair Centrum Antwerpen (Belgium). Dept. of Biology)
During a population study of the damselfly Lestes sponsa at a fen in northern Belgium several predatory acts of Eutolmus rufibarbis on the damselfly species Enallagma cyathigerum and L. sponsa were reported. Despite the sporadic nature of our observations we noted 44 damselflies killed by this robber fly. All animals were caught in flight. More males than females were eaten. This reflects the male biased sex-ratio of both damselfly species at the fen. Our data suggest that robber fly predation may form an important mortality factor of adult damselflies in our studied population.
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