Fitness and body size in mature odonates

The relationship between body size and fitness components in odonates was e xamined using a meta-analysis of 33 published studies. There was a positive and significant overall effect of body size on mating rate and lifetime ma ting success among males. There was also a weaker but still significant pos itive effect of body size on survivorship of males. The relationship betwee n body size, mating rate, longevity, and lifetime mating success differed s ignificantly between males of territorial and nonterritorial species. The e ffect of body size was significant for all fitness components in territoria l species but significant only for longevity and lifetime mating success in nonterritorial species. Effect sizes appeared to be strongest on longevity in both sexes, and on male mating rate in territorial species. Other effec t sizes, even when significant, were small. Despite a much smaller data set , female fitness also increased significantly with body size. Both clutch s ize and longevity showed a significant positive relationship with body size . These results suggest that there is a general fitness benefit to large si ze in odonates. Nevertheless, significant heterogeneity is apparent in this effect, which can be attributed to sex, mating system, and fitness compone nt. Finally, these analyses point to inadequacies in the current data that need further study before the potentially rich patterns in size effects on fitness can be explored more thoroughly.