The University of Michigan Biological Station (UMBS) was founded in 1909.
The role of posturing in behavioral thermoregulation by black dragons (Hagenius brevistylus Selys; Odonata)
Title | The role of posturing in behavioral thermoregulation by black dragons (Hagenius brevistylus Selys; Odonata) |
Publication Type | Journal Article |
Year of Publication | 1979 |
Authors | C. Tracy R, Tracy BJean, Dobkin DS |
Journal | Physiological Zoology |
Volume | 52 |
Pagination | 565-571 |
Keywords | TEMPERATURE |
Abstract | The effectiveness of thermoregulatory postures in the black dragon (Hagenius brevistylus Selys; Odonata) was tested relative to wind speed and air temperature on live and dead dragonflies in a closed circuit wind tunnel. The postures appeared to allow the dragonflies to behaviorally select body temperatures exceeding a range of 20 C and reach temperatures as low as the ambient air or as high as the sun-warmed substrate. At least one posture appeared to be transitory and appeared to be used primarily to warm up from low body temperatures. Live dragonflies kept individually in a large flight cage showed different patterns of posturing depending on the amount of insolation. Free-ranging dragonflies were not active at low air temperatures, and postured differently in response to different substrate temperatures. We concluded that black dragons can select from a broad range of potential body temperatures as the result of behavioral posturing. |