Use of mandibular tusks as weapons in the aggressive behavior of the burrowing mayfly Rhoenanthus coreanus (Yoon and Bae, 1985) (Ephemeroptera: Potamanthidae)

In larvae of burrowing mayflies (Ephemeroidea), mandibular tusks are generally associated with burrowing and/or feeding. This study reports, for the first time, the use of mandibular tusks as weapons in the aggressive behavior of the burrowing mayfly Rhoenanthus coreanus (Yoon and Bae, 1985) (Potamanthidae). The larvae used their tusks as weapons in combat behaviors such as tusking, which was observed in 60.81% and 62.98% of the studied males and females, respectively. Most cases involved combat by tusking between females (70.45%), followed by combat between males (21.60%), and combat between male and female individuals (3.97%). Aggressive behavior was more common in female larvae with longer mandibular tusks. Positive relationships were observed between the number of cases of aggressive behavior (i.e., tusking) and the size of mandibular tusks in both male and female larvae (p

在掘穴蜉蝣幼虫（Ephemeroidea）中，颌齿通常与掘穴及/或摄食相关联。本研究首次报道了掘穴蜉蝣Rhoenanthus coreanus（Yoon和Bae，1985）（Potamanthidae科）在攻击性行为中使用颌齿作为武器。幼虫在战斗行为如颌齿交锋中使用其颌齿作为武器，此行为在所研究的雄性和雌性幼虫中分别观察到占60.81%和62.98%。大部分案例涉及雌性之间的颌齿交锋（70.45%），其次是雄性之间的交锋（21.60%），以及雄雌个体之间的交锋（3.97%）。攻击性行为在颌齿较长的雌性幼虫中更为普遍。观察到攻击性行为（即颌齿交锋）的案例数与雄性和雌性幼虫颌齿的大小之间存在正相关关系（p）