SummaryThe paper presents information on factors influencing maximum feeding‐rates (measured in the laboratory) in larvae of the damselfly Pyrrhosoma nymphula, and compares estimates of feeding rates in the field with maximum feeding‐rates for larvae of the same size at the same temperature.Maximum feeding‐rates in Pyrrhosoma larvae of different sizes were measured at 4, 5, 10 and 15°C. At low temperatures (4–5°C) maximum feeding‐rate was depressed more than predicted either from the effects of temperature on the gut‐clearance time of larvae or their respiratory rate. Maximum feeding‐rate declined steadily throughout metamorphosis in the final instar and stopped completely prior to emergence of the adult.Feeding‐rates in the field were calculated from ‘balanced’ energy equations, i.e. from the sum of larval growth, respiration and the production of faeces and exuviae. Feeding rates in the field were always much less than maximum feeding‐rates for the same size of larva at the same temperature, and at the most were never more than 70% of the latter; they were closer to the maximum in summer than in winter, when they fell as low as 20% of the maximum.The relevance of these findings to studies on the efficiency with which carnivores utilize energy in the field, and the importance of Odonata larvae as predators in aquatic