INTIMATE STRUCTURE OF THE SWARMS 



247 



LENGTH RANGE 



MONTH 



APR SO- 

 lOO- 



FEB SO- 



-too- 



DEC 50- 



-100- 



DEC 50- 



-100 



JAN 50- 



-100- 



NOV 50- 



-lOO- 



OCT 50- 



-100- 



OCT 50- 



-100- 



OCT SO- 



-100- 



OCT 50- 



MONTH 



8 12 16 2024 28 32 36 404448 52 56 60 64 



STATION 



WSI96 



627 



S37 



492 



454 



459 



463 



WS295 



STAGE 9 



I 2 3 4 S 6 7 



1 I I ! I I r 



II I I 1 I 

 -| — I — I — I — r 



STAGE o* 



I 2 3 4 5 6 7 



1 — I — I — I — I — I — r 



^ — I — I — I — r^ — I — I — r 



-\ — I — 1 — I — r 





1 — I — I — I — I — r 



-T — I — I — I — I — r 

 2 3 4 5 6 7 



T — I — i — I — r 



1 I I I 1 r 





-T — I — I — I — r 

 3 4 S 6 7 



T — I — I — I — I — T^ — I — I — I — I — r 





-T — I — I — I — I — r^sn — I — I — I — I — r 



[ 



1 — I — I — I — I — r™T — I — I — I — I — r 



8 12 16 2024 28 32 36404448 52 S6 6064 



I 2 3 4 5 6 7 



STAGE 9 



I 



I 2 3 4 5 6 7 



STAGE (j' 



^ SAMPLE FROM SIGHTED SWARM 



Fig. 50. Sexual dimorphism and developmental condition of the sexes in svfa.TmsoiE.superba,showmg growing dominance of the 

 male. Arranged in ascending order of modal size. Length range in 4-mm. groups, e.g. 16 includes specimens of 13, 14, 15 

 and 16 mm. 



difficult to say whether or not all may be simply due to inadequate sampling. There appears to be 

 some evidence, however, that subsequent to pairing (see Stations 2168, 2195, 356, WS 915, 2271 and 

 207) the swarms may in fact consist predominantly, and sometimes almost exclusively, of females, 

 all either gravid or spent, suggesting that when the males have transferred their spermatophores they 

 begin to die off earlier than the females, the latter persisting for some time as the dominant, and 

 eventually perhaps as the exclusive component of the swarm. In most animals that have been studied 

 it may be remarked (Comfort, 1956) the male sex is the shorter lived. 



