Dragonflies and Damselflies documents the latest advances in odonate biology and relates these to a broader ecological and evolutionary research agenda. Despite being one of the smallest insect orders, dragonflies offer a number of advantages for both laboratory and field studies. In fact, they have been crucial to the advancement of our understanding of insect ecology and evolution. This book provides a critical summary of the major advances in these fields. Contributions from many of the leading researchers in dragonfly biology offer new perspectives and paradigms as well as additional, unpublished, data. The editor has carefully assembled a mix of theoretical and applied chapters (including those addressing conservation and monitoring) and achieves a balance of emerging and established research topics, providing suggestions for future study in each case.

Foreward, Phillip Corbet 1. Introduction, Alex Cordoba-Aguilar Studies in Ecology 2. Mark-recapture studies and demography, Adolfo Cordero-Rivera & Robby Stoks 3. Structure and dynamics of odonate communities: accessing habitat, responding to risk, and enabling reproduction, Patrick W. Crumrine, Paul V. Switzer & Philip H. Crowley 4. Life history plasticity under time stress in damselfly larvae, Robby Stoks, Frank Johansson & Marjan De Block 5. Ecological factors limiting the distributions and abundances of Odonata, Mark A. McPeek 6. Migration in Odonata: A case study of Anax junius, Michael L. May & John H. Matthews 7. Dragonflies in the assessment and the monitoring of aquatic habitats, Beat Oertli 8. Dragonflies as focal organisms in contemporary conservation biology, Michael J. Samways 9. Valuing dragonflies as service providers, John P. Simaika and Michael J. Samways Studies in Evolution 10. Evolution of morphological defences, Frank Johansson & Dirk Johannes Mikolajewski 11. Interspecific interactions and premating reproductive isolation, Katja Tynkkynen, Janne S. Kotiaho & Erik I. Svensson 12. Lifetime reproductive success and sexual selection theory, Walter D. Koenig 13. Fitness landscapes, mortality schedules, and mating systems, Brad R. Anholt 14. Testing hypotheses about parasite-mediated selection using odonate hosts, Mark R. Forbes & Tonia Robb 15. Cryptic female choice and sexual conflict, Alex Cordoba-Aguila & Adolfo Cordero-Rivera 16. Territoriality in Odonates, Jukka Suhonen, Markus J. Rantala & Johanna Honkavaara 17. The evolution of sex-limited colour polymorphisms, Hans Van Gossum, Tom Sherratt & Adolfo Cordero 18. Sexual size dimorphism: patterns and processes, M. Alejandro Serrano-Meneses, Alex Cordoba-Aguila & Tamas Szekely 19. Dragonfly flight performance: a model system for biomechanics, physiological genetics, and animal competitive behavior, James H. Marden 20. Evolution, diversification and mechanics of dragonfly wings, R.J. Wootton & David J. S. Newman Appendices