Rosalyn Sparrow’s scientific contributions

This report identifies a set of priority actions needed to reverse the declines of thirty threatened dragonfly species in the European Union. It is based on data from the latest European Red List of Dragonflies and Damselflies (2024) and employs the “Assessment to Plan” methodology of the IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC) with a specific focus on species occurring in oligotrophic standing waters and in Mediterranean streams. Three goals and multiple subgoals are presented in this plan highlighting the need for better data and increased knowledge exchange, the importance of appropriate management of priority habitats, and the role of effective policy support.

Biodiversity monitoring plays an essential role in tracking changes in ecosystems, species distributions and abundances across the globe. Data collected through both structured and unstructured biodiversity recording can inform conservation measures designed to reduce, prevent, and reverse declines in valued biodiversity of many types. However, given that resources for biodiversity monitoring are limited, it is important that funding bodies prioritise investments relative to the requirements in any given region. We addressed this prioritisation requirement for a biodiverse Mediterranean island (Cyprus) using a three-stage process of expert-elicitation. This resulted in a structured list of twenty biodiversity monitoring needs; specifically, a hierarchy of three groups of these needs was created using a consensus approach. The most highly prioritised biodiversity monitoring needs were those related to the development of robust survey methodologies, and those ensuring that sufficiently skilled citizens are available to contribute. We discuss ways that the results of our expert-elicitation process could be used to support current and future biodiversity monitoring in Cyprus.

Based on literature data, unpublished material and the results of the year-round monitoring at selected sites island-wide by the Cyprus Dragonfly Study Group since 2013, we acquired an excellent knowledge of the diversity and status of the Odonata of Cyprus. Altogether, 37 species are on the island's checklist. Ischnura pumilio, Aeshna affinis and Brachythemis impartita were only very rarely recorded in the past but are considered to be no longer present. The single record of Calopteryx virgo from 1930 is in our opinion a misidentification and has been removed from the checklist. The island has a rather impoverished odonate fauna compared to neighbouring countries. There are no endemic species, but the island is home to some range of restricted species of which Ischnura intermedia is the most important. Flight seasons determined for the 31 species with sufficient data were generally found to be longer than reported for other countries in the Eastern Mediterranean. This may be due to intensive year-round monitoring but could also result from Cyprus' warmer climate. Very wide annual variations were found in the abundance of all species over the seven years and show an almost immediate response to the wide fluctuations in Cyprus' annual rainfall levels.

Biodiversity monitoring plays an essential role in tracking changes in ecosystems, species distributions and abundances across the globe. Data collected through both structured and unstructured biodiversity recording can inform conservation measures designed to reduce, prevent, and reverse declines in valued biodiversity of many types. However, resources for biodiversity monitoring are limited, it is therefore important that funding bodies prioritise actions relative to the requirements in any given region. We addressed this prioritisation requirement through a three-stage process of expert-elicitation, resulting in a prioritised list of twenty biodiversity monitoring needs for Cyprus. Equal priority was assigned to the twenty monitoring needs within three categories: a top nine, a middle five, and a bottom six. The most highly prioritised biodiversity monitoring needs were those related to the development of robust methodologies, and those ensuring a geographic spread of sufficiently skilled and informed contributors. We suggest ways that the results of our expert-elicitation process could be used to support current and future biodiversity monitoring in Cyprus.

1. Geographically widespread species provide excellent opportunities to investigate how phenotypes change across large‐scale environmental gradients. Temperature is a fundamental environmental variable and an important determinant of insect fitness. However, field research is often geographically restricted, and typically concentrated in northern latitudes. Basic population biology and phenotypic clines in relation to temperature therefore remain poorly known across the entire geographic range, even in otherwise well‐studied taxa. 2. We surveyed populations of the trimorphic damselfly Ischnura elegans in Cyprus, which is the southern range limit in Europe of this widespread insect species. Females of I. elegans occur in three discrete and heritable colour morphs, which vary in suites of phenotypic traits. One of these female morphs is a male‐mimic that avoids excessive male‐mating harassment by its male‐like appearance, and which is more cold‐tolerant than the two other morphs. 3. In contrast to the situation in northern Europe, these male‐mimicking females are the minority morph in Cyprus, representing only about 5% of all females. Male mimics also have lower mating rates than alternative female morphs. 4. Individuals in Cyprus are relatively small in comparison to the reported European range for body size, consistent with Bergman's rule. 5. Finally, populations of I. elegans on the island have the longest flight period known in Europe, and there is only partial evidence for seasonality in flight activity. 6. These results underscore the benefits of considering the entire range of environmental conditions encountered by insect species when conducting evolutionary ecology research.

Although considered one of the most widespread dragonflies in the world, Pantala flavescens is rarely recorded in Europe and only irregularly observed in the eastern Mediterranean. The first published records of P. flavescens from Cyprus date back to 1957. There are no further published records from Cyprus until 2010 when a single individual and a copula were observed. The latter is also the first record of reproductive activity of the species in the eastern Mediterranean. Since the systematic monitoring of Odonata in Cyprus began in 2013, P. flavescens has been recorded on the island every year with one to 13 records each year from 2013 to 2017, 45 in 2018, and with a significant increase to 146 records in 2019, giving a total of 237 records. Reproductive behaviour of P. flavescens has been observed 19 times on Cyprus and in 2018 we found a larva and a teneral male. Oviposition mode showed high plasticity and was observed in five cases in non-contact guarding behaviour; five times females were ovipositing alone (unguarded oviposition) and oviposition in tandem was seen only once. Our observations are the first proof of successful reproduction of P. flavescens in the eastern Mediterranean.

Although considered one of the most widespread dragonflies in the world, Pantala flavescens is rarely recorded in Europe and only irregularly observed in the eastern Mediter-ranean. The first published records of P. flavescens from Cyprus date back to 1957. There are no further published records from Cyprus until 2010 when a single individual and a copula were observed. The latter is also the first record of reproductive activity of the species in the eastern Mediterranean. Since the systematic monitoring of Odonata in Cyprus began in 2013, P. flavescens has been recorded on the island every year with one to 13 records each year from 2013 to 2017, 45 in 2018, and with a significant increase to 146 records in 2019, giving a total of 237 records. Reproductive behaviour of P. flavescens has been observed 19 times on Cyprus and in 2018 we found a larva and a teneral male. Oviposition mode showed high plasticity and was observed in five cases in non-contact guarding behaviour; five times females were ovipositing alone (unguarded oviposition) and oviposition in tandem was seen only once. Our observations are the first proof of successful reproduction of P. flavescens in the eastern Mediterranean.

In this paper we report the presence of Aeshna isoceles for the first time from Cyprus. Five males were observed and photographically documented in May 2012 in a small valley below Rizokarpaso on the Karpasia peninsula. This was, however, not followed up at that time. The species was rediscovered by members of the Cyprus Dragonfly Study Group (CDSG) in the same valley in April 2019. Reproductive behaviour (copula and oviposition) was observed and a population is assumed to be present. It seems possible that the species has been present on the island for some time but overlooked, due to the remoteness of the site. Furthermore, members of the CDSG also photographically documented a male Lestes barbarus at an agricultural tank near Agridia in August 2019. The last published sighting of this species on Cyprus was of four specimens dating back to 1948 that are stored in the collection of the British Museum of Natural History. We further report on two unpublished sightings of this species at Fasouri marsh in 1997 and on the Gialias river near Kotsiatis in 2002. The records of Aeshna isoceles increase the Odonata checklist for Cyprus to 38 species.

The antlions (Myrmeleontidae) of Cyprus have been poorly studied and only 13 species were known from this biogeographically interesting island. In light of new field research, we provide an updated checklist to the Cypriot antlions, including seven species reported for the first time from the island. Of these, the findings of the Middle Eastern species Distoleon laticollis and Cueta kasyi are particularly noteworthy. The Cypriot antlion fauna appears dominated by widespread Mediterranean elements, with relatively few Middle Eastern and endemic species.