Condition and size of damselflies: a field study of food limitation

Based on evidence from field manipulations, several authors have recently suggested that interference competition among larval odonates reduces individual growth rates and biomass by reducing foraging rates. This study was designed to test the effects of food shortage on “condition” (relative mass per unit head width) of larval Ischnura verticalis (Odonata: Coenagrionidae) under laboratory conditions and to use these results to estimate the …