very unusual and extraordinary larval development habitats has been
described with probably plenty more
to be yet discovered.
3. conclusion
Why do Odonata develop in such
harsh habitats? One of the answers
is definitely lack of other convenient
breeding sites. What is more important, in most of such places there
are not many predators. Therefore,
the adaptations to the living in
extreme habitats, like high saline
waters and waterfalls, are
often the survival strategy (Calvert 1914, Corbet
1999). In
phyto-
Why do Odonata
develop in such
harsh habitats?
48
telmata, for example, dragonfly
and damselfly larvae are known to
be the top predators (Fincke 1994).
Furthermore, relatively large
amounts of terrestrial and semiterrestrial Megalagrion damselflies
on Hawaii are most likely the result
of adaptive radiation. Jordan et al.
(2003) pointed out that high levels of endemism and species richness can be correlated with islands’
ages. The emergence of the new
island allowed the larvae to colonize the available ecological niche
by developing new adaptations