Iberian Wildlife Tours - Wildlife Holidays in Spain and Portugal
    Iberian Wildlife Tours in Spain and Portugal - for the wildlife holiday or natural history tour of a lifetime

More unusual Odonata in W Madrid

John Muddeman
24/08/2010 23:58:52

Recent records of Dainty and Mediterranean Bluets and Southern Darter confirm the high quality of the odonate fauna of the Western Sierras of Madrid

Posted in: Dragonflies and Damselflies | Madrid | Mainland Spain, Central Spain


Copulating pair of Dainty Bluet - Coenagrion scitulum © John MuddemanDainty Bluet pair copulating
Coenagrion scitulum
© John Muddeman
The same fieldwork which turned up the first Pronged Clubtail for Madrid and perhaps Ávila (see previous blog entry) has also led to the discovery of several other scarce species in the region, again highlighting the relative lack of prospection in the region but the continued presence of high quality habitats.

The first involved a small colony of Dainty Bluet Coenagrion scitulum, discovered among the sparse emergent vegetation towards the shallow upper part of a small hill reservoir on 28th July. A few mobile males and at least three pairs (either copulating or in tandem) were noted, all but confirming breeding at the site. Few other species were present, though a couple of male Blue Emperors Anax imperator fought for the airspace and a fine male Black-tailed Skimmer Orthetrum cancellatum patrolled underneath.

Dainty Bluet has apparently only been recorded from three 50x50km squares in C Spain, with one of these pre-1980 (Boudot et al. 2009) and this record apparently falls in a new quadrat. However, recent intensive surveying has shown it to be widespread across Extremadura (Sánchez et al. 2009) and particularly the N of this region in similar habitats to those found in SW Madrid, and so its presence at more sites can almost certainly be expected.

Dainty Bluet is apparently listed as Vulnerable (VU) at the international level by the IUCN (though it doesn't appear on the www.iucnredlist.org website) and is listed as Vulnerable at the national level (Torralba-Burrial et al. 2010).


Pair (in tandem) of Mediterranean Bluet - Coenagrion caerulescens © John MuddemanMediterranean Bluet pair in tandem
Coenagrion caerulescens
© John Muddeman
The second of particular note was the discovery of a small number of Mediterranean Bluet Coenagrion caerulescens on 14th August along a warm, shallow stretch of river with abundant grass growing out from the bank and forming floating mats, among which a few males, a single female and also a few pairs were perching (with egg-laying observed twice).

As for Dainty Bluet, there are records just three 50x50km squares in C Spain, though all are post-1980 and may include this site. In stark contrast to Dainty Bluet though, the species is remarkably uncommon in Extremadura, having only been found in six 10x10km squares to date, possibly reinforcing its apparent scarcity in Spain (see Boudot et al. 2009). Perhaps surprisingly, it is considered as of Least Concern by the IUCN, but is considered Vulnerable at the national level (Torralba-Burrial et al. 2010).

The final record of most note was the discovery of two rather small, 'bland-looking' and quite pale darter males along the course of a dried-up river bed. Although very flighty, the presence of several parasitic mites on the wings of both individuals - not a Male Southern Darter - Sympetrum meridionalis © John MuddemanMale Southern Darter
Sympetrum meridionale
© John Muddeman
common sight here - meant I persisted with the ID, and after checking the field guides, their identity as Southern Darters Sympetrum meridionale was confirmed. This was later reconfirmed with the observation of several males and females, along with Ruddy S. sanguineum and a female Moustached Darter S. vulgatum in E Austria just a couple of days later. These two males were photographed there.

Southern Darter appears to have something of an enigmatic status in Spain, with just three 50x50km squares with pre-1980 records in C Spain, though there are one or two more recent records from N Madrid, and information gleaned from the recently formed Iberian ODO-GIO odonate forum shows records of multiple sightings in the Doñana area and in Galicia this autumn. It is currently listed as Data Deficient at the national level (Torralba-Burrial et al. 2010).
Male Southern Darter2 - Sympetrum meridionalis © John MuddemanMale Southern Darter
Sympetrum meridionale
© John Muddeman

But the status of many species in Madrid remains poorly known, and most spectacularly, two recent observations show two more new species are present in the region. Photos by Abel López in Biodiversidad Virtual illustrate a copulating pair of Epaulet Skimmer Orthetrum chrysostigma and also a superb adult male Green Hooktail Paragomphus genei. These also perhaps illustrate how the odonate fauna is changing and how species formerly apparently restricted more to the far SW are expanding N.



Read more blog posts

HomeTours for 2022+About IWTTestimonialsIWT BlogContact us Publications
Wildlife books
Wildlife articles
Translations
Custom wildlife & birding tours
Birds & birdwatching
List of birds
Geography & climate
List of dragonflies & damselflies
Travellers' Nature Guide species menu
Cabo de Gata
Sierra de Grazalema
Grazalema botanical trip report 2007
Benasque botanical trip report 2008
Natural History of the Canary Islands
Fuerteventura trip report
Catalan Pyrenees botanical trip report 2005
Birds & birding
Habitats
Location & geography
List of birds
List of butterflies
List of dragonflies & damselflies
La Mancha tours
Birds & birding
Botanical trip report 2009
Birds & birding
List of dragonflies & damselflies
A naturalist's paradise
List of orchids
Botanical trip report 2004
Butterfly & moth trip report 2005
Butterfly & moth trip report 2006
Butterfly & moth trip report 2008
List of butterflies
Picos walking guide
Natural history of the Arrábida
Wildlife of the Sado estuary
Botanical trip report 2006
Ecuador cloudforest birdwatching
Birds & bison in Poland
 
 
 
  
All photos and text © copyright of the authors.

Home  |  About Iberian Wildlife Tours  |  Contact

Website by Richard Albion