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Libellule di Liguria (Odonata)

Authors:
  • Agenzia Regionale per la Protezione dell'Ambiente Ligure
  • CESBIN Srl

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This paper updates the knowledge about dragonflies observed within the administrative boundaries of Liguria (North-west of Italy) to nearly seventy years since the last paper at regional scale (Capra 1945). The study was carried out through the collection of new data and through a revision of bibliography and museological collections. A geographic database was compiled with approximately 3,000 records, representing a relevant sampling effort with about one record every two square kilometers. Of these, 500 are published and 2,500 are unpublished data, the latter mainly collected in the last seven years (88%). A total of 57 species, 23 Zygoptera and 34 Anisoptera, are recorded for the study area, representing the 61% of the Italian odonatofauna. Four species are recorded as new for Liguria: Coenagrion pulchellum, Ophiogomphus cecilia, Libellula fulva and Trithemis annulata. Conversely, five historically-recorded species were not found during the last years: Coenagrion mercuriale, Erythromma najas, Sympetrum vulgatum, Somatochlora flavomaculata e Somatochlora meridionalis. The Ligurian odonatofauna is mainly composed by palearctic species (84%), followed by holoartic (7%), afro-european (5%) and afro-tropical (4%) species. Specimens were observed in flight from the sea level up to 1700 m a.s.l., with a higher number of species present at elevation of up to 1000 m, and only six species reaching the highest altitude. The flight season is mainly concentrated in the summer with the following number of species observed for each month: January (0), February (1), March (0), April (7), May (25), June (43), July (47), August (45), September (27), October (10), November (4), December (0). The most important areas, for biogeographical reasons or for highest number of species, are located in the “Genoese Apennine” (Aveto valley, Roccagrande and Orba valley), in the Po valley encompassing the provinces of Genoa and Savona (Stura valley and Erro valley), in the Bormida valley and in the western area (River Centa basin, high Tanaro valley and Roja valley).
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... This ubiquitous and pioneer species inhabits a wide variety of sun-exposed, stagnant and slowflowing waters, including freshwater lagoons, sluggish streams and rivers, as well as artificial water bodies like ditches, reservoirs, gravel pits, quarry lakes and barrage lakes (Kalkman et al. 2015, Wildermuth & Martens 2019, Dijkstra et al. 2020. For Europe, quarry lakes and large reservoirs are reported as the main reproductive habitats of T. annulata (Brochard & van der Ploeg 2013, Ottonello & Oneto 2013, Cabana et al. 2014, Fabbri et al. 2016, Gheza et al. 2019). The species is bivoltine in the Mediterranean area (Boudot et al. 2017). ...
... Its colonisation in France is well documented, spreading separately on Atlantic and Mediterranean front (Deliry 2010), with records from the Loire River catchment representing the species' northern limit in Europe to date (GBIF 2021). Until the late 20 th century, the distribution of T. annulata was limited in Italy to its southern regions -Sicily, Sardinia, Calabria, Basilicata, Apulia, Campania, Lazio (Conci & Nielsen 1956, Battaglini & Percuoco 1967, Carchini et al. 1985 -and Tuscany (Terzani 1991), while in the last two decades it colonised Abruzzo, Marche, Umbria, Emilia-Romagna and Liguria (Fabbri 2011, La Porta et al. 2013, Ottonello & Oneto 2013, Fabbri et al. 2016). Now it is widespread mostly in the areas with the Mediterranean bioclimate (Gheza et al. 2019, Odonata.it ...
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One adult male dragonfly Violet Dropwing Trithemis annulata was recorded at Lake Vogršček in the Vipava Valley (W Slovenia) during the Biological Students Research Camp – Otlica 2021. This first record for the country is presented and the species’ distribution in Europe outlined. Behavioural observations and data on the accompanying Odonata fauna are included. This widespread Afrotropical species has rapidly expanded its range in south and south-western Europe in the recent two decades, with global warming apparently being the main driver of this expansion. Hence, 73 Odonata species belonging to 29 genera and nine families are now reported for Slovenia. Trithemis is the seventh genus to be added to the family Libellulidae for the country. The discovery of T. annulata in the Vipava Valley in Slovenia is significant for the fact of being the northernmost observation on the Balkan Peninsula to date.
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