Coenagrion scitulum (Rambur, 1842)

Bazzi, Gaia, Galimberti, Andrea, Foglini, Claudio, Bani, Luciano, Bazzi, Lionello, Bonvicini, Piero, Brembilla, Roberto, Brigo, Massimo, Cavenaghi, Alberto, Colombo, Giuseppe, Della Pieta, Cesare, Galliani, Carlo, Guarnaroli, Ettore, Larroux, Nicola, Monti, Alessandro, Orioli, Valerio, Ornaghi, Francesco, Pilon, Nicola, Pirotta, Giuliana, Radaelli, Giovanni, Tessa, Giulia & Assandri, Giacomo, 2023, Odonate diversity of a highly urbanised region: An annotated checklist of the damselflies and dragonflies (Insecta, Odonata) of Lario and Brianza (Lombardy, N Italy), Biodiversity Data Journal 11, pp. 111358-111358 : 111358

Coenagrion scitulum (Rambur, 1842)

Native status

R

Conservation status

erl: LC; irl: LC

Notes

Flight period: III May - III June

A southern species, it is known to colonise newly-created suitable habitats, i.e. lentic or slow-flowing waters rich in aquatic vegetation also in response to the increasing temperature determined by climate warming ( Boudot and Kalkman 2015). In the study area, C. scitulum was first discovered in 2019, when a population was found at a small artificial pond at the south-eastern border of the Como Province, between Mozzate and Cislago (N. Larroux obs.). However, the occurrence of this population was never confirmed in the following years. Subsequently, in 2020, a mating pair was observed at Calendone Pond in the Parco di Montevecchia e della Valle del Curone, which had just undergone restoration (C. Della Pietà obs., Fig. 3 c). Additionally, in this case, no further observation followed the first and a prolonged drought in the summer of 2022 caused the pond to completely dry out, with likely strong impacts on the entire odonate community.

Figures

Figure 3. Relevant species / records of Odonata in Lario and Brianza Regions (N Italy); a) Lestes virens, Parco delle Groane; b) Sympecma paedisca, Parco della Pineta di Appiano Gentile e Tradate; c) Coenagrion scitulum, Parco di Montevecchia e della Valle del Curone; d) Oxygastra curtisii, Lake Alserio; e) Somatochlora arctica, Camaggiore fen; f) Sympetrum meridionale, Pusiano Lake; g) Sympetrum danae, Monte Muggio, Casargo; h) Trithemis annulata, Piano Lake. Photos by G. Bazzi, N. Larroux, C. Della Pieta, A. Cavenaghi, P. Bonvicini and N. Pilon.