Male choice for female colour morphs in Ischnura elegans (Odonata, Coenagrionidae): testing the hypotheses

The occurrence of different conspecific female colour morphs, with one of t he morphs resembling the male, is supposed to have consequences for mate ch oice. There are two hypotheses linking mate choice and female colour polymo rphism. First, males may mate predominantly with female morphs that differ from the male because they do not recognize androchrome females as females (male mimic hypothesis). Second, males may be more attracted to the most co mmon morph in the population (habituation hypothesis). We tested these hypo theses in five populations of the same species, Ischnura elegans, with a ra nge of androchrome frequencies. In each population we performed binary choi ce experiments in small cages. Males did not consistently prefer gynochrome females but mated predominantly with the most common morph in the populati on. Moreover, a reanalysis of the available damselfly data in the literatur e also supported the habituation hypothesis. (C) 1999 The Association for t he Study of Animal Behaviour.