OVLIVNĚNÍ OF SOIL PROPERTIES, YIELD AND CHEMICAL ......12.20 Interesting species of dragonflies from Cyprus island Christophe Brochard p.16 ... 14.10 Monitoring of dragonflies of

ECOO 2018 5th European Congress on

Odonatology

Book of Abstracts

9-12th July 2018

Brno, Czech Republic

Publisher: Mendel University in Brno

Editor Kateřina Holušová

Brno, 2018

The ECOO 2018 is supported by:

Moravian Forestry Institute, i. r.

Mendel University in Brno

FEI Czech Republic s.r.o.

Gesellschaft deutschsprachiger Odonatologen e.V.

ENTO SPHINX s.r.o.

PRO PŘÍRODU A MYSLIVOST, z. s.

ISBN: 978-80-7509-560-2

Contents

ECOO 2018 ORGANIZING COMMITTEE ................................................................. 5

GENERAL INFORMATION ....................................................................................... 6

PROGRAMME ....................................................................................................... 7

ABSTRACTS FROM THE ALL SESSIONS .................................................................. 12

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS .......................................................................................... 63

MID CONGRESS TOUR ........................................................................................ 66

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ECOO 2018 ORGANIZING COMMITTEE

Otakar Holuša, Mendel University in Brno & Moravian Forestry institute, i. r. Congress head, Congress programme, Mid-Congress Tour Kateřina Holušová, Mendel University in Brno & Moravian Forestry institute, i.r. Webpage, catering, posters, accounting, sponsors, congress dinner, economy,

correspondence, homepage design Aleš Dolný, University of Ostrava Post-Congress Field Tour Petr Marada, Mendel University in Brno Mid-Congress Tour Filip Harabiš, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague Post-Congress Field Tour Věra Hubačíková, Mendel University in Brno Catering, Congress office Jiří Foit, Mendel University in Brno Congress office Josef Kašák, Mendel University in Brno Book of Abstracts editing, sponsors, Congress office Attila Balázs, Mendel University in Brno Social media, Congress office Jiří Gól, Moravian Forestry institute, i. r. Accompanying programme Václava Hrubá, Mendel University in Brno Transport, Congress office All volunteers

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GENERAL INFORMATION

Congress venue

Mendel University in Brno, Zemědělstká street 1, Brno, Postal Code: 613 00, Czech Republic

Auditorium Maximum hall

Welcome cocktail in Dietrichstein Palace of the Moravian Muzeum, July 8th 2018. Address: Zelný trh 8, 659 37, Brno, GPS: 49.191798; 16.608265

Official Congress Photo

The traditional Congress Photo will be taken after lunch on Thursday.

Awards

ECOO 2018 will present two awards: (i) the best oral presentation by a young presenter (aged 30 or younger) and (ii) for the best poster.

If you are 30 year or younger and give a presentation, please notify the congress office.

All participants will in the congress material receive a voice tag to vote for the best poster. Submit your election to the congress office. All votes are anonymous.

Congress dinner

Tasting regional products and drinks (Mendel’s beer and wine, listening to traditional folk music, dancing, stay in the fresh air in Mendel University Botanical Garden).

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PROGRAMME

SUNDAY 8th

17.30 Welcome cocktail at Moravian Museum in Brno

MONDAY 9TH

8.30 the registration starts

9.45 Welcome and presentation of all participants (name and country only)

10.00 Introduction ECOO 2018 and the Czech Republic Otakar Holuša & Kateřina Holušová

OPENING SESSION

10.30 Plenary talk: Species richness of the Cordulegaster genus of the Western Palearctic and knowledge of their bionomics Otakar Holuša p.12

11.30 Coffee Break

SESSION 1: Faunistic and diversity

Session chair: David Sparrow

12.00 New Odonata species in Sweden 1994–2017 Magnus Billqvist p.15

12.20 Interesting species of dragonflies from Cyprus island Christophe Brochard p.16

12.40 Dragonfly fauna (Odonata) of the Vipava river valley (Western Slovenia) Damjan Vinko p.17

13.00 Lunch

SESSION 2: Faunistic, Life history

Session chair: Aleš Dolný

14.30 Exotic Odonata in Sweden Magnus Billqvist p.18

14.50 Plenary talk: Biology of dragonfly larvae Christophe Brochard p.19

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15.45 Coffee break

SESSION 3A: Behaviour, ecology & Life history

Session chair: Andreas Martens

16.15 Epigamic behaviour of Golden-ringed Dragonfly (Cordulegaster boltonii) Martin Černý p.20

16.35 Shining metallic surfaces as ecological traps for adult Odonates: fitness costs Angélica Selene Ensaldo Cárdenas p.21

16.55 Paul-André Robert and his life’s work on dragonfly larvae Christophe Brochard p.22

17.15 Free time for discussions

TUESDAY10TH

8.30 Registration

SESSION 3b: Behaviour, Ecology and Life history

Session chair: Magnus Billqvist

9.00 Video footage of Somatochlora sahlbergi Miikka Friman p.23

9.20 Dispersal and home range of the dragonfly Anax imperator, firsts results of a radiotracking study Marceau Minot p.24

9.40 Specialist strategy of plasticity: How long-spined larval Sympetrum depressiusculum (Odonata: Libellulidae) responds to combined predators Hana Šigutová p.25

10.10 Coffee Break

SESSION 3c: Behaviour, ecology & Life history

Session chair: Magnus Billqvist

10.45 To be early or late? Effects on phenology by sex and size Robin Pranter p.26

11.05 Reproductive behaviour of Pyrrhosoma elisabethae, a rare European endemic Andreas Martens p.27

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SESSION 4a: Habitats, monitoring

Session chair: Jürgen Ott 11.25 Plenary talk: Secondary habitats as new (bio)diversity hot spots for

dragonflies? Aleš Dolný, Filip Harabiš p.28

12.25 Lunch

SESSION 4b: Habitats, monitoring

Session chair: Jürgen Ott

13.30 City park ponds: suitable habitats for dragonflies? Diana Goertzen p.29

13.50 Monitoring networks for Natura 2000 species and other policy-relevant dragonflies in Flanders (Belgium). Framework and first results Geert De Knijf p.30

14.10 Monitoring of dragonflies of Community interest in Slovakia in 2013 – 2017 Dušan Šácha p.32

14.30 A new era of technologies in dragonfly biomonitoring Stanislav Ožana p.34

14.50 Coffee break

15.30 BRIEF POSTER PRESENTATION

Session chair: Otakar Holuša

15.30 The occurrence of Cordulegaster heros (Cordulegastridae) in Slovakia and modeling of potentional occurrence Attila Balázs & Otakar Holuša p.48

15.40 The project InNat: collecting records of insect species listed in the Habitats Directive with the help of citizens Sönke Hardersen p.47

15.50 How important are you? Dušan Šácha p.49

16.00 Odonata - fast colonizers of a newly restored habitats Ana Štih p.50

16.10 New data and first checklist of Odonata from Republic of Kosovo Damjan Vinko p.52

16.20 Morphometric measurements of Cordulegaster bidentata and Cordulegaster heros dragonfly nymphs (Odonata) from Slovakia Stanislav David p.54

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16.30 Dragonfly trait databases: Where are we now? Jana Hronková p.56

16.40 Submerged oviposition in Lestes sponsa – special behaviour under the manipulative experiment Jana Helebrandová p.57

16.50 The invasive Calico Crayfish Faxonius immunis: from identification characters to very recent results Andreas Stephan

17.00 Detail info about Mid Congress Field Trip

Addition talk: Hovorany wetlands near the Šardice village in southern Moravia and their species richness of the dragonflies Petr Marada p.35

WEDNESDAY 11TH

06.00 Mid Congress Field trip (includes meals and drink during all day)

THURSDAY 12TH

SESSION 5: Genetics

Session chair: Klaus-Jürgen Conze

9.00 DNA Barcode Odonata: Why and how Sónia Ferreira p.37

9.20 Translocated population as a source of genetic variation for the original population: Fifteen years monitoring of Leucorrhinia dubia Stanislav Ožana p.38

9.50 Hybridization and sexual appendages: investigating the contact zone of Cordulegaster trinacriae and C. boltonii Sönke Hardersen p.39

10.15 Coffee break

SESSION 6: Dragonflies society

Session chair: Geert De Knijf

11.45 International Activities in the 25th Year of Slovene Dragonflies Society Ana Tratnik p.40

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12.05 How to teach dragonflies – some notes from twenty years experience Klaus-Jürgen Conze p.41

SESSION 7A: Invasive species with impact on European dragonflies:

Session chair: Sönke Hardersen

12.25 Plenary talk: Ecology, monitoring and management and example of calico crayfish Faxonius immunis management approaches Andreas Martens p.42

13.25 Lunch

SESSION 7B: Invasive species with impact on European dragonflies:

Session chair: Sönke Hardersen

14.35 Plenary talk: Invasive crayfish and their impact on dragonflies on the European level Jürgen Ott p.43

15.15 Overkill – Case studies on the impact of the invasive crayfish Faxonius immunis (Hagen) on dragonfly larvae and other macroinvertebrates in conservation ponds Alexander Herrmann p.45

15.35 Information from a meeting of hydraulic engineers in Germany Jürgen Ott

15.50 Coffee break

16.20 POSTER SESSION

17.00 ECOO 2018 Awards

17.15 Closing session and info on ECOO 2020

19.00 Congress dinner

FRIDAY 15TH

The Post Congress Field Trip starts

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ABSTRACTS FROM THE ALL SESSIONS

Species richness of the Cordulegaster genus of the Western Palearctic and knowledge of their bionomics

Otakar Holuša

Mendel University in Brno, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, Zemědělská st. 3, 613 00, Czech Republic

E-mail: [email protected]

Representatives of family Cordulegastridae belongs to its colour and size among the most prominent representatives of dragonflies. With its size, they belong to the largest representatives of the European fauna of dragonflies. However, due to their life and habitat, such as forest ecosystems or forest habitats, they are among species with only partial knowledge of species occurrence in Europe and their bionomy. Just in this group that many interesting discoveries have been made over the last ten years - as descriptions of new species Cordulegaster heros in year 1979 (Theischinger 1979), C. vanbrinkae and C. helladica in 1993 (Lohmann 1993), C. plagionyx and C. nachitschevanica in year 2015 (Skvortsov & Snegovaya 2015), so many interesting faunistic-biogeographical findings, such as the finding of the Cordulegaster insignis population in Central Macedonia (Holuša & Křivan 2012, Holuša & Holušová 2012), same species on the territory of Serbia (Kulijer & Boudot 2013, Kulić et al. 2012). Similarly, the recent finding of C. vanbrinkae in southeast Armenia (Ananian & Tailly 2012). In fact, the finding of the species Cordulegaster heros in 2001 on the territory of Slovakia (Blaškovič et al. 2003), and later the finding of the northernmost population of the same species on the territory of the Czech Republic in 2011 (Holuša et al. 2011). For all these findings, it may seem to be the so-called expansion of areas with a view to ongoing climate change or biotopes, however, the confirmation of the historical occurrence of the Cordulegaster insignis on the territory of Serbia points only to the historical ignorance of the occurrence (Kulijer & Boudot 2013).

The genus Cordulegaster includes in the Western palearctic region 13 (maybe up to 19) species, some with unclear taxonomic position. The genus is divided into a group of boltoni, here in two Western and Eastern subgroups. In the western subgroup there are species: Cordulegaster boltoni (with 4 subspecies - C. b. boltonii (Donovan, 1807), C. b. immaculifrons Sélys et Hagen, 1850, C. b. iberica Boudot et Jacquemin, 1995, C. b. algirica Morton, 1915), Cordulegaster trinacriae Waterson, 1976 and Cordulegaster princeps Morton, 1915. The Eastern subgroup includes species Cordulegaster heros (with 2 subspecies - C. h. heros Theischinger, 1979 and C. h. pelionensis Theischinger, 1979), Cordulegaster picta

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Sélys, 1854 and Cordulegaster vanbrinkae Lohmann, 1993. The bidentata-group includes species Cordulegaster bidentata Sélys, 1843 (with 2 subspecies C. b. bidentata Sélys, 1843, C. b. sicilica Fraser, 1929), Cordulegaster helladica (with 3 subspecies C. h. helladica (Lohmann, 1993), C. h. bucholzi (Lohmann, 1993) and C. h. kastalia (Lohmann, 1993)), further species Cordulegaster insignis Schneider, 1845 (with reported subspecies C. i. insignis Schneider, 1845, C. i. charpentieri (Kolenati, 1846), C. h. nobilis Morton, 1915 a C. h. amasina Morton, 1915), Cordulegaster mzymtae Bartenef, 1929, C. coronata Morton, 1915, C. nachitchevanica Skvortsov & Snegovaya 2015 and C. plagionyx Skvortsov & Snegovaya 2015.

Cordulegaster heros Theischinger, 1979 was historically erroneously reported from many countries under C. boltoni or misidentified as C. bidentata. It is Eastern mediterranean species with Balkan type of occurrence, disjoint area reaches up to Central Europe. The area centre is located in Slovenia, northern Croatia, eastern Austria, where predominantly in Slovenia there are very large populations (Kotarac et al. 1997, 2006). Occurrence was also confirmed in eastern Italy, where it has the most western part of its area (Bedjanič & Šalamun 2003). The northern boundary of its area consists of separate areals on the territory of Slovakia in two regions - in the west of the Borská nížina lowlands and Malé Karpaty Mts. (Blašković et al. 2003, Janský & David 2008), and from Central Slovakia (Holuša & Kúdela 2011). The most northernmost occurrence is known today from the territory of the Czech Republic (Staufer & Holuša 2009, Holuša et al. 2011). In Greece, the species is found in the area of Northern Greece at the Macedonian border, a unique find is known from the Rhodopes region, it is also known from the region of central Greece around Olympus Mts. and around Lamia town, in the northern part of the island of Evvoia, northern Peloponnese island (Lopau 2010a, b, Holuša in prep.). In Central and Southern Greece, it is found in subspecies C. heros pelionensis (Theischinger 1979).

Cordulegaster vanbrinkae Lohmann 1993, which belonging into the subgroup of boltoni, is the least known species. This is a the darkest coloured species with the largest reduction of the yellow colour on the abdomen. Species was described on the basis of one male (village of Veysar near the town of Chalus town) in the Elborz Mts. in Iran, recently been found in r. 2010 N-Armenia, in 2013 in the J-Azerbaijan and repeatedly around village of Veysar in Iran. Female, larvae, or bionomy and range of the area species was not yet known. Its area extends from north-eastern Iran near the border with Turkmenistan, across northern Iran to Azerbaijan, and Armenia. Probably area may extend up to the foothills of Caucasus Mts. in Georgia and S-Azerbaijan.

Cordulegaster mzymtae Bartenev, 1929 it has an unclear taxonomic status so far, some of which are classified as subspecies of C. insignis. With C. insignis are among the smallest representatives of the genus. Typical for this species is the predominance of black body colour, yellow spots, especially in males are small. The species has a Pontic-East-Mediterranean extension, which is restricted to northeast

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Turkey and Georgia, where it is known from Adjaria region and the southern foot of the Caucasus Mts.

Cordulegaster helladica (Lohmann, 1993) belongs to European endemic species, which occurs in the southern part of mainland Greece and at the Cyclades islands in the Aegean Sea. In the Western Palaearctic species belongs to the rarest and therefore the most endangered species of Cordulegaster genus. C. helladica kastalia is known from several places but only in one valley near Delphi village in southern Greece. Just C. helladica bucholzii occurs at large islands in Cyclades islands– i.e. Andros, Tinos a Naxos. Totally the occurrence was found at 10 localities at Andros and at 3 locations at Tinos, 7 localities at Naxos island. Sites are located at altitude of 100 - 670 m a.s.l. The most important factor endangering the species population is the drying of streams (capturing the spring, use of water for agriculture), as some streams in the second half of the season completely dry. Further deforestation along watercourses, and pollution from settlements, even though it was established tolerance larvae pollution water habitats.

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New Odonata species in Sweden 1994–2017

Magnus Billqvist

Swedish Dragonfly Society, Sweden


The interest for dragonflies in Sweden have increased dramatically for more than a decade. This has brought on more knowledge and hundreds of new province records, and even the birth of the Swedish Dragonfly Society (Sw. “Trollsländeföreningen”).

Between 1994 and 2011 nine new species for the country has been documented. Some of them has successfully established themselves, others seems to be on the brink of doing the same, while a few have only been seen sporadically.

In this presentation I will present the new Swedish species and their status in the country, and how they relate to trends in our neighbouring countries. The nine new species are as follows:

Somatochlora sahlbergi 1994 (first year of observation)

Anax ephippiger 1995

Sympetrum fonscolombii 1997

Sympecma paedisca 2000

Anax imperator 2002

Erytromma viridulum 2004

Aeshna affinis 2010

Anax parthenope 2010

Sympetrum pedemontanum 2011

However, no new species has been observed 2012–2017 despite the massive increase in interest for dragonflies in general. In the presentation I will address this and also present the most expected species yet to appear in Sweden, in relation to trends in the rest of Europe.

mailto:[email protected]

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Interesting species of dragonflies from Cyprus island

Christophe Brochard1 & David Sparrow2

1 Bureau Biota, Marsstraat77, Postal Code: 9742EL, Groningen, the Netherlands

2 Cyprus Dragonfly Study Group, Paphos, Cyprus, PO Box 62624, 8066


Cyprus is a wonderful island with many endemic species. The mythical dragonfly species Anax immaculifrons can also be found on this island. We will also present to you the very rare and poorly known Ischnura intermedia in different stadia and many other species. The aim of this talk is to bring you with us on our journey on Cyprus in a great colourful show with many pictures.

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Dragonfly fauna (Odonata) of the Vipava river valley (Western Slovenia)

Damjan Vinko

Slovene Dragonfly Society, Verovškova 56, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia


During the rich history of odonatological research in the 310 km2 large area of Vipava River Valley in W Slovenia, 43 dragonfly species were recorded up to 2007. The primary objective of this voluntary work in the region was to study the dragonfly fauna in the years 2008–2018, particularly its distribution and status, and to compile historical information on the Odonata of the Vipava River Valley.

During the decade long survey, 110 field days were conducted at more than 300 localities and almost 4000 data were collected. Of the 72 dragonfly species recorded in Slovenia, 53 were registered during this study. Ten new species were recorded for the region: Chalcolestes parvidens, Lestes barbarus, Lestes dryas, Coenagrion pulchellum, Erythromma najas, Anax ephippiger, Brachytron pratense, Somatochlora metallica, Sympetrum meridionale and Sympetrum pedemontanum. All previously recorded species were also detected.

Despite the considerable species’ richness, common and non-threatened species dominate the fauna. In the region rare or very rare (present at less than 5 % of the sites) are 31 species out of 53. Up to three species were mapped on 56 % of the sites. As all stages of their life cycle were investigated, the successful reproduction of 46 dragonfly species was confirmed, including one of the most endangered species in western Slovenia – Ceriagrion tenellum. Altogether with this survey, historical data and data contributed by others, 21 nationally threatened and 7 protected species were recorded for 463 sites. Two species, Coenagrion ornatum and Cordulegaster heros, are listed in the Annexes of the Habitats Directive. For Coenagrion ornatum, in the region present in one of the highest numbers in Slovenia, expansion of the Natura 2000 site Dolina Vipave (SI3000226) is proposed as several sites with proven successful reproduction of the species are not included in the Natura 2000 site.

Considering the habitats, smaller anthropogenic pools had the highest biodiversity. Six sites with 30 or more dragonfly species have one of the highest numbers of dragonfly species in Slovenia and are enlisted in the best 25 localities in the country. Index considering species’ nature conservation status and species richness was used to determine eight areas with the highest importance for the conservation of dragonfly fauna in the Vipava River Valley. With these additional discoveries, the Vipava River Valley was acknowledged as the second richest region in Slovenia considering dragonfly fauna, with the Mura River, where the government is planning to establish several hydroelectric power plants, being the first.

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Exotic Odonata in Sweden

Magnus Billqvist

Swedish Dragonfly Society, Sweden


Exotic dragonflies has been known for decades to occur in Europe via the trade with aquatic plants from mainly South East Asia. The number of exotic species found in Europe could by now exceed 40, not in the least by the work of Gerold Laister, who 1991–2011 in an extensive study found 22 species in Austria alone.

Exotic dragonflies in Sweden are poorly known, probably because very few in the aquarium trade notice dragonfly larvae in their tanks or never mind reporting them even if they do. Hence the hidden statistics are most probably vast.

I will present the four occasions where exotic dragonflies in Sweden has come to our knowledge. I will also discuss their origins and how they might have gotten here. Finally, I will present the latest trends in the trade with aquatic plants and how they might change the species of dragonflies that might accompany the plants.


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Biology of dragonfly larvae

Christophe Brochard

Bureau Biota, Marsstraat77, Postal Code: 9742EL, Groningen, the Netherlands


Dragonflies are fascinating in their biology and their behaviour. Most people will immediately think about the colourful flying adults. However, the biggest part of their life is lived under water. They are originally aquatic insects with amazing behaviour and biology. Their shape, how do they moult, swim, hunt… there are many aspects to study. At the end of this talk you will see that the larval stadium of dragonflies is simply astonishing.

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Epigamic behaviour of Golden-ringed Dragonfly (Cordulegaster boltonii)

Martin Černý, Dominika Dubcová, Lenka Hupková-Klausová

Dept. ecology, Faculty of Science, Charles University

Viničná 7, 128 44 Prague 2, Czech Republic


Dragonflies rely on visual perception in most aspects of their adult life. Beside the targeting of a flying prey, the other crucial ones include the recognition of a conspecific individuals and the ability to detect the opposite sex. Also, and perhaps more for territorial species, there is a need to “handle” the particular locality/habitat in terms of fine-grained visual orientation. To study some of these facets of dragonflies’ everyday life, we have chosen a Golden-ringed Dragonfly (Cordulegaster boltonii) which males are known to patrol over upper streams to find and mate ovipositing females.

In past years (2014-2017), we carried out a number of field experiments with individually marked Cordulegaster males. Altogether we have marked about 300 specimens. We had two main goals: 1) how the males recognise the females and 2) how they manage to stay on the particular stretch of a stream. For the first we used various female-substitutes (inc. dead specimen and artificial models) with various colour/UV treatments, for the second we did experiments with artificial landmarks along the stream and/or modifying the “water signal”.

In female recognition her typical ovipositing movements play the most important role for the male however both the patterns of visible coloration and UV reflectance may provide him significant clues, too. For the spatial orientation we did not find any significant reaction to introduced landmarks unless they modified the amount of polarisation reflectance of the water, which appears to be the crucial signal even on the finest-grained spatial scales.


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Shining metallic surfaces as ecological traps for adult Odonates: fitness costs

Angélica Selene Ensaldo Cárdenas & Alejandro Córdoba Aguilar

Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México


Some aquatic insects use the reflection of polarized light on water as a cue to find a suitable habitat. However, some Odonate species are unable to distinguishing real aquatic habitats from artificial surfaces (e.g. metallic structures) as both have similar light reflection properties. This phenomenon can induce Odonates to perform sexual activities (territorial defence and egg laying) on artificial surfaces. We hypothesize that this confusion leads to fitness costs. We carried out an experimental setting to test this with three Odonates species: Ischnura denticollis, Enallagma praevarum and Sympetrum illotum. We built metallic structures that simulated aquatic surfaces and placed them next to the natural habitat used for sexual activities. All three species were attracted to artificial surfaces, being S. illotum the species that spent the longest time occupying them. We show fitness-related costs for such attraction. The fact that the artificial surfaces deceived our Odonate community suggests that attraction to ecological traps may be a widespread phenomenon in this group.


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Paul-André Robert and his life’s work on dragonfly larvae

Christophe Brochard

Bureau Biota, Marsstraat77, Postal Code: 9742EL, Groningen, the Netherlands


The Swiss painter and dragonfly researcher Paul-André Robert (1901-1977) is well known in Europe for his book “Les Libellules” that appeared in 1958. However, what is less well known is that Paul-André began to work on a monumental monograph on European dragonfly larvae at the age of sixteen. This manuscript, which consists of texts and illustrations, consumed most of his life and was only completed just before he died. After several failed posthumous attempts to publish his work, there is now a great opportunity to publish it as a significant collectors’ item for those interested in high quality entomological books. The presentation will focus on Robert and his fantastic work.

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Video footage of Somatochlora sahlbergi

Miikka Friman

Finland


The relatively recently eased access to shoot sharp video formats such as 4K has created new opportunities by not only offering an alternative tool for documenting observations, but also for recording the behaviour and studying the morphological details of different specimens and species.

In 2015 I had an opportunity to look for the species Somatochlora sahlbergi during four days in northern Lapland, Finland. S. sahlbergi is known to be a difficult species to find and photograph, but with the contribution of accompanying people we happened to be lucky enough to find several specimens of the species. Thus, I had an opportunity to shoot video of the specimens resting in their natural habitat, largely due to the fact that the specimens were mostly teneral.

This presentation is a summary combining observations regarding Somatochlora sahlbergi from the excursion in form of a short documentary. Most importantly, it shows females and males of the species as well as parts of their microhabitat and a bird’s eye view of the macrohabitat. The short documentary film was shot and edited in 4K resolution which offers a more detailed outlook for the details of this Cordulid species. None of the specimens seen in this short piece were moved away from their original positions, although some of the specimens might have been disturbed by shadows or other movement caused while operating the camera.

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Dispersal and home range of the dragonfly Anax imperator, firsts results of a radiotracking study

Marceau Minot & Aurélie Husté

Rouen Normandy University, France


At the European scale, number and size of ponds have dramatically decreased during the last century due to changes in agricultural practices and urbanization. In Normandy, the loss of ponds might hugely impact the connectivity for species that depend on aquatic habitats. Indeed, isolated populations suffer from reduced genetic diversity that can lead them to extinction. A better understanding of the impacts of surrounding habitats on species’ dispersal abilities would help improve management plans of blue and green corridors at regional scale. Recent technological advances in telemetry enable to equip large dragonflies with radio-transmitters. This method already allowed to follow the migration of the American species Anax junius for several hundreds of kilometres. Our study aimed to determine dispersal distances and home range of the European species Anax imperator.

During summers 2017 and 2018, individuals were caught and equipped with 0.25g radio-transmitters. Males too light to be equipped were also simply marked with a unique code on the wings using permanent markers. The monitoring of individuals enabled to collect information on the use of the surrounding landscape (i.e. forest, urban and rural) in the vicinity of the ponds. Data were analysed according to climatic conditions such as temperature, solar radiations or rain. Our results highlighted the role of large trees near the ponds, since they are often used as shelters during the night or by rainy days. Only few movements were observed between ponds. However, one male was found more than 5 km far from its releasing site. Some individuals showed a normal behaviour of territoriality or egg-laying when carrying a transmitter. Nevertheless, our study showed that this marking method should be used very carefully. Indeed, the mortality rate of A. imperator equipped with radio-transmitters was noticeably higher than the one of individuals with wing marks only. We suspect that equipped dragonflies have a longer reaction time when they are resting or laying-egg, making them easier to catch for predators.

This study was the first to equip as many dragonflies with radio-transmitters. Despite its probable impact on survival, radio-tracking is decidedly the best method to follow dragonflies’ movements, especially at small scale, and identify the habitats used in the surroundings of ponds.

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Specialist strategy of plasticity: How long-spined larval Sympetrum depressiusculum (Odonata: Libellulidae)

responds to combined predators

Hana Šigutová1, Martin Šigut1, Aleš Dolný1,2

1 Institute of Environmental Technologies

2 Department of Biology and Ecology, University of Ostrava, Czech Republic


Phenotypic plasticity is a common defensive strategy in species experiencing variable predation risk, such as habitat generalists. In environments with fish, larvae of dragonfly generalists are capable of elongation of their abdominal spines which increases their survival. However, long spines render larvae susceptible to invertebrate predators such as large predatory dragonflies as elongated spines facilitate grasping by hooks and palpi of their labium. In long-spined specialists adapted to fish-heavy habitats, phenotypic plasticity in this defence trait is not expected but no studies have been made. Moreover, it is unclear how species actually react under multiple environments that favour opposing phenotypes. We examined the plasticity of larval dragonfly Sympetrum depressiusculum, a long-spined habitat specialist. We performed a rearing experiment in which the larvae were exposed to four environments: (i) no predator control, (ii) fish cues (Carassius auratus), (iii) invertebrate cues (Anax imperator), as well as (iv) a combination of (ii) and (iii). Compared with the control, exposure to fish cues but not invertebrate cues resulted in longer spines for two (one lateral, one dorsal) of the six spines measured. Interestingly, the combined-cue treatment led to the elongation of all four dorsal spines compared with the fish treatment alone, whereas lateral spines showed no response. Our induction experiment provided evidence of morphological plasticity in a long-spined specialist dragonfly. We showed that nearly all spines can elongate but react differently under the specific predator settings. Therefore, while spine plasticity evolved in direct response to a single predator type (fish), plasticity is maintained against invertebrate predators as long as fish are also present. Selective spine induction in combined environment suggests that S. depressiusculum can successfully survive in environments with both predators. Therefore, phenotypic plasticity may be an effective strategy not only for habitat generalists but also for specialists. Moreover, we demonstrated that in dragonflies, the presence or absence of a specific predator is not the only factor that determines plastic defence responses, and more studies are needed to understand how selection shapes the evolution of phenotypic plasticity.

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To be early or late? Effects on phenology by sex and size

Robin Pranter

Lund University, Sweden


The phenology of a species is central to its ecology, it is linked to development time and in extension size, and differences can be found in both inter- and intraspecific comparisons. Sexual dimorphisms in phenology (protandry and protogyny) has been linked to sexual size dimorphism.

I will present results from data collected in the summer of 2016, in this study I use odonates, popular model organisms for studies of development time and sexual dimorphism, to ask questions about variation in phenology and maturation time with respect to size, sex and color. I suggest phenology at the reproductive site is affected not only by larval development time but also by maturation time in the adult stage. Size does not seem to affect maturation time or phenology on interspecific levels, but in intersexual comparisons it seems to do so. I will also present a quantitative evaluation of the value of citizen science data (from the Swedish species portal) for phenological investigations.


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Reproductive behaviour of Pyrrhosoma elisabethae, a rare European endemic

Andreas Martens

Institute for Biology, PH Karlsruhe


The species is one of the rarest odonates in Europe. Species-specific differences to the reproductive behaviour of P. nymphula were unknown. The species was studied in the Greek island of Corfu in 2014. It was difficult to find adults at water, in most cases one recognized the adults firstly after rousing them. A video camera on a tripod and the continuous track of an adult or a pair were very useful for data collection.

The diurnal reproductive period lasted from 11 to 15 h. Thermoregulation played a big role. The majority of the behavioural sequence took place in half-shade or in cold water, besides that the adults repeatedly prospected leaves in the sun for resting. After copulation the tandem showed a longer lasting exploration period marked with many brief landings and tests by the female’s ovipositor, interrupted by warming-up in sunny spots. In many cases the pair returned to a distinct spot and started to deposit nearly all eggs there. During oviposition, the tandem moved slowly backwards into the water, and the female deposited the eggs in a zigzag pattern into the plant tissue. Whereas the females submerged totally in the cool water, the males remained for long time. The males released them when their thorax touched the water. In many cases, obstacles as drifting leaves or snapped off stalks prevent further submergence, and both partners moved upwards and proceed with egg deposition. Occasionally, they interrupted oviposition and moved to sunny spots. After warm up they flew back to the former spot or the direct surroundings. A non-intermittent bout of oviposition lasted 20 to 40 min. In total, the duration of a stay at water of a pair lasted 1.5–3 h. There was no trend to form groups during oviposition. In Corfu, the majority of eggs were deposited in soft parts of submerged leaves of Sparganium erectum having no waxy cuticula.

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Secondary habitats as new (bio)diversity hot spots for dragonflies?

Aleš Dolný1, Filip Harabiš2

1 Department of Biology and Ecology, Faculty of Science, University of Ostrava, Chittussiho 10, CZ-710 00 Slezská Ostrava, Czech Republic

2 Department of Ecology, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamýcká 129, CZ-165 00 Praha–Suchdol, Czech Republic

E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]

As a result of many anthropogenic influences, we are at the threshold of the global diversity crisis (loss of diversity and the biotic homogenization of faunas) in freshwater ecosystems. Therefore, it seems paradoxical that secondary habitats originating as a result of human activities in heavily industrialized areas (e.g. spontaneously originated mine subsidence pools) can host high diversity of freshwater invertebrates including dragonflies. Another secondary habitats that have high conservation potential but were previously overlooked are military training areas. During the last 20 years of research, we found many numerous populations of endangered species in secondary habitats, which indicate, that this is not only an accidental phenomenon. These habitats significantly outweigh fish ponds in species richness of odonates and proportion of habitat specialists. The most likely explanation of this phenomenon seems to be the fact that a high dynamics of environmental changes leading to high habitat heterogeneity. The second no less important factor is an isolation from many negative anthropogenic influences such as urbanization or agriculture combined with disturbances associated with human activities. Nevertheless, we must not forget that this are diverse, yet altered habitats. The poor quality of aquatic biotopes in the surrounding areas and a very specific environmental conditions of these habitats may have affected their attractiveness. The question then is: what is the real quality of these habitats and how to keep key processes such as ecological succession.


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City park ponds: suitable habitats for dragonflies?

Diana Goertzen

TU Braunschweig, Institute of Geoecology, Dept. for Landscape Ecology & Environmental Systems Analysis


City park ponds occur in many cities and are often the only water bodies within city centres. Nonetheless, these habitats do not receive much attention by odonatologists as they are anticipated to have a species-poor dragonfly fauna. Over several years I carried out various surveys and experiments at city park ponds most of them situated in the city of Dortmund (Germany). These data were compiled to give an overview on characteristic habitat features of city park ponds, which species occur and which factors impact dragonfly diversity.

Typical city park ponds are medium-sized to large ponds having shoreline stabilisation, muddy substrate and poor aquatic vegetation except for (ornamental) reeds. They are normally surrounded by short lawn or large trees, and are inhabited by waterfowl and fish. Another typical pond type in city parks are concrete basins with ornamental or without any vegetation. In total, 30 dragonfly species were recorded in city parks. The majority of collected larvae/exuviae accounted for Ischnura elegans which was more abundant in city park ponds than in other urban habitats. Some species like Chalcolestes viridis or Sympetrum striolatum were able to reproduce in concrete basins. Most of the species recorded were common and widespread, but at ponds with suitable habitat structures also more specialised species occurred like Sympetrum danae or Aeshna juncea. Experiments indicated that predation by waterfowl and fish as well as high intensity management of aquatic and shoreline vegetation may be the limiting factors for dragonfly diversity in city park ponds. The establishment of more natural vegetation and pond structure can help to promote higher dragonfly diversity even within city centres.

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Monitoring networks for Natura 2000 species and other policy-relevant dragonflies in Flanders (Belgium). Framework

and first results

Geert De Knijf1, Toon Westra1 & Hannes Ledegen2

1 Research Institute of Nature and Forest (INBO)

2 Natuurpunt


European member states have to report every six years on the conservation status of Natura 2000 species in the framework of the Habitats and Bird Directive. The European Commission (EC) demands that this reporting is based on statistically sound data. The monitoring network should be able to detect a decline of the population with about one quarter in a period of 24 year.

Beside the Natura 2000 species, some extra species of regional importance were added to the list in Flanders. Altogether standardized monitoring schemes were developed for 10 species of dragonflies. Sampling strategy and basic field methodology are described in a number of protocol documents (De Knijf et al. 2015).

All species with 30 or fewer populations will be monitored at all sites. A statistical technique Generalised Random Tesselation Stratified (GRTS, Stevens and Olsen, 2004) was applied to select the monitoring localities for the more widespread species (> than 30 populations) in order to obtain a spatially balanced sample across the Flemish region.

The more common species are counted by walking transects along the water. Individuals are counted along 2 m above the shoreline, and 3 m above the water for damselflies or 5 m for dragonflies. This method will be applied for Calopteryx virgo, Coenagrion pulchellum and Aeshna isoceles.

Species which are more hardly to detect or occurring in less accessible habitats such as peatbogs will be surveyed by site counting. This will be done for one hour at a predefined suitable part near their reproduction site, including water and terrestrial habitats. This is the case for Coenagrion lunulatum, C. hastulatum, Somatochlora arctica, Leucorrhinia pectoralis and Sympetrum depressiusculum.

Both gomphid species, G. flavipes and G. vulgatissimus are monitored by searching for exuviae along each stream or river where they occur. For this a 500 m or 100 m stretch of suitable emergence habitat is searched for respectively.

In Flanders, monitoring data are mainly collected by volunteers. Since the monitoring scheme started in 2016, over 65 highly specialized volunteers participated. In this presentation we present the different methodologies and the


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first results for Coenagrion lunulatum (period 2016-2018) and for Gomphus flavipes (2016-2017), three years in the dragonfly monitoring scheme.

References

De Knijf G., Maes D., Onkelinx T., De Bruyn L., Piesschaert F. , Pollet M., Truyens P., Van Calster H., Westra T. & Quataert P. 2015. Monitoringsprotocol libellen. Rapporten van het Instituut voor Natuur- en Bosonderzoek 2015 (INBO.R.2015.7886774). Instituut voor Natuur- en Bosonderzoek, Brussel.

Stevens D. L. & Olsen A. R. 2004. Spatially-balanced sampling of natural resources. Journal of American Statistical Association 99: 262-278.

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Monitoring of dragonflies of Community interest in Slovakia in 2013 - 2017

Dušan Šácha1, Ján Černecký1,2, Viktória Ďuricová1

1 State Nature Conservancy of the Slovak Republic, Slovakia

2 Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra, Slovakia

E-mail: [email protected], [email protected]

Eight species of dragonflies of Community interest were monitored in Slovakia in 2013 – 2017. Total number of monitoring sites reached 62, although number of sites monitored in particular years varied. In pannonian bioregion, there were 31 permanent monitoring plots (PMLs), in alpine bioregion 34. In total 21962 individuals were recorded, encompassing 54 odonate species. Conservation status assessment was performed according to national unified methodology streamlined with the Habitats Directive (Art. 17 Reporting).

Two species of Community interest were not observed (Sympecma paedisca, Leucorrhinia albifrons) and their conservation status is considered unfavourable – bad (U2). Most likely there are no breeding populations in Slovakia, while their past observations were accidental.

Status of Coenagrion ornatum is considered unfavourable – inadequate (U1) in both pannonian and alpine bioregions. Species occurred at 7 PMLs, within altitude range 130 – 510 m a.s.l.

Status of Cordulegaster heros is considered unfavourable – inadequate (U1) in both pannonian and alpine bioregions. Species occurred at 8 PMLs, within altitude range 196 – 578 m a.s.l.

Status of Ophiogomphus cecilia is considered unfavourable – inadequate (U1) in alpine and unfavourable – bad (U2) in pannonian bioregion. Species occurred at 15 PMLs, within altitude range 100 – 455 m a.s.l.

Gomphus flavipes occurs in pannonian bioregion only, where its conservation status is unfavourable - bad (U2). Species occurred at 14 PMLs, within altitude range 99 – 154 m a.s.l.

Status of Leucorrhinia pectoralis is considered unfavourable – inadequate (U1) in alpine and unfavourable – bad (U2) in pannonian bioregion. Species occurred at 7 PMLs, within altitude range 96 – 820 m a.s.l.

Status of Leucorrhinia caudalis is considered unfavourable – inadequate (U1) in pannonian bioregion where it occurred at 1 PML in altitude 110 m a.s.l. Species was not observed in alpine bioregion, where its conservation status is unfavourable – bad (U2).

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Monitoring of dragonflies of Community interest yielded significant and complex data set related to the distribution of individual species, as well as additional information regarding threats and pressures, future prospects and other data needed for the assessment of conservation status. It represents a significant step towards the improvement of knowledge on odonate species in Slovakia.

Nonetheless, several problems showed up during the monitoring process, possibly causing biases in final assessment of the species. Although methodology was defined for each species, not every researcher was able to follow the instructions precisely, leading to restricted comparability among the PMLs. Furthermore, PMLs were selected using not only scientific (known recent or past sites of the species) but administrative criteria as well. The situation led to exclusion of PMLs in Bratislavský kraj county, where some of the best populations of Cordulegaster heros or Leucorrhinia pectoralis exist, and underestimation of total population sizes of the species.

Some redefinitions of monitoring methods and PMLs may therefore be necessary and are planned in the near future.

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A new era of technologies in dragonfly biomonitoring

Ožana S.1,2, Burda M.3, Hykel M.1, Malina M.4, Prášek M.4, Dolný A.1,2

1 Department of Biology and Ecology, University of Ostrava, Chittussiho 10, 710 00 Ostrava, Czech Republic

2 Institute of Environmental Technologies, Faculty of Science, University of Ostrava, 30. dubna 22, 701 03 Ostrava, Czech Republic

3 Institute for Research and Applications of Fuzzy Modeling, University of Ostrava, CE IT4Innovations, 30. dubna 22, 701 03 Ostrava, Czech Republic

4 Department of Informatics and Computers, University of Ostrava, 30. dubna 22, 701 03 Ostrava, Czech Republic


Citizen science represents a promising idea to achieve a large amount of data for a wide range of disciplines. However, it is still not fully accepted in scientific studies as a reliable source of information, particularly because of the credibility of information. It is important to create approaches that make data collecting easier with high accuracy. An ideal modern tool combining ease of use, accuracy and speed of data acquisition are mobile applications. An example of such application is Dragonfly Hunter CZ, which enables both easy identification of dragonfly species in the Czech Republic and involvement in scientific research. The classification system of application, based on geographical, phenological and morphological aspects, using the principles of fuzzy logic, allows the correct determination of the species with a probability of 71% within the first five positions of the resulting list (95% for the first 15 positions). Users have also the option to send a record with adding a photo to a server where verification is performed by experts. Application Dragonfly Hunter CZ is a pilot project that shows the evolution of information technologies in the field of biomonitoring. This concept is also easy to use for other groups of organisms and therefore can represent the future of citizen science in the Czech Republic.

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Hovorany wetlands near the Šardice village in southern Moravia and their species richness of the dragonflies

Petr Marada & Otakar Holuša

Mendel University in Brno, Zemědělská 1, 613 00, Brno, Czech Republic


The project was able to use the character of the area (waterlogged agriculture land) to its advantage. The positive effect of the project can already be seen now as the

area became a mosaic of endangered biotopes in our agricultural land and enhances the water retention potential of the area and its ability to withstand extreme weather. The biotopes that have been designed and implemented are a strong magnet for endangered species of animal and plants in the area. The exact species composition and its changes will, of course, derive from the future management of the area and other conditions. The area is located in the village of Hovorany (Hodonín region), in the eastern corner of the village called Mokronovsko. The measure was applied to the alluvial plain of the Sardicky stream, which is situated between local forests.

The goal of the investor was to create a system of pools including biotechnical features (groups of tree stumps reptile habitats, stone walls) and vegetation changes consisting of planting geographically native species and establishing permanent grasslands.

The construction can be divided into two parts: Ground work and biotechnical features comprise of digging five pools with an approximate water depth of 0.5-2.0 m and three smaller pools with an approximate depth of 0.5 m. A stone wall is created, as well as a 1-m-high reptile habitat designed especially for endangered blind worms. Two more groups of tree stumps are designed in the middle of the area.

Vegetation changes include planting tree species belonging to the floodplain forest (as is hinted at by the names of the Jasanak, Olsovnik and Vrbatec pools) and establishing permanent grasslands. Protection against ploughing up is ensured by hedges (bird cherry, red twig dogwood, euonymus Europeans etc.). In the north of the area an avenue has been planted comprising small-leaved lime, Norway maple and field maple. Close to the reptile habitat three standalone oaks have been planted.

Restoration of the significant function of the landscape element (degraded alluvial plain), Increasing the water retention potential of the landscape, increasing landscape diversity, Improving biodiversity a possibility of education, research and ecological education.


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The locality “Hovorany wetland” near Šardice village appears to be the most interesting from the point of view of the diversity of dragonflies. This wetland has been studied in detail since its inception in 2013. The locality is complex of 5 lakes formed in the sandy alluvium of the Šardický stream (3.5 km from the centre of the Šardice village). The size of lakes ranges from 30 m2 to 5000 m2, with a depth from 50 cm to 3 m. Vegetation at the banks of lakes are created Typha latifolia, Phragmites australis and Bolboschoenus maritimus agg., in the shallow places a dense growth of Equisetum palustre, in the water are dense Ceratohyllum demersum, individually on the surface floating Potamogeton natans. The water is clear, clean, in the years 2014-2015 was without fishes. 26 types of dragonflies were found on the site. The most interesting is the occurrence of Coenagrion scitulum (Rambur, 1842), in the 2014-2015 population there were several thousand individuals. There was an occurrence here Hemianax ephippiger (Burmeister, 1839). The site is inhabited by a very large population Crocothemis erythraea (Brullé, 1832), on some days in August it is the most numerous species on the site.

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DNA Barcode Odonata: Why and how

S. Ferreira 1, A. Cordero-Rivera 2, J. Paupério 1, J. Veríssimo 1, F.M.S.Martins 1,3, V.A. Mata 1,3, A. Muñoz-Merida1, P. Beja 1,4

1 CIBIO/InBIO – Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos da Universidade do Porto, Vairão, 4485-661 Vairão, Portugal.

2 ECOEVO Lab, Departamento de Ecoloxía e Bioloxía Animal, Universidade de Vigo, EUE Forestal, Campus Universitario A Xunqueira s/n, ES-36005 Pontevedra, España;

3 Departamento de Biologia da Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade do Porto, Rua Campo Alegre, 4169-007 Porto, Portugal.

4 CEABN, Instituto de Agronomia, Universidade de Lisboa /InBIO Laboratório Associado, Lisboa, Portugal


DNA barcoding is currently an essential tool in a vast array of ecological and conservation studies (e.g. biodiversity monitoring, diet assessments). However, its applicability is still hampered by the lack of comprehensive reference collections. This knowledge gap becomes greater in invertebrates, especially from biodiversity hotspots like the Mediterranean Basin. Surprisingly, while dragonflies and damselflies are one of the best studied insect groups, no comprehensive barcoding of the European species has been made. These predatory insects are intimately connected to freshwater habitats, as their larval phase is completed in the water, being particularly sensitive to changes in the aquatic environment and constituting important bioindicators of ecosystem health. Within InBIO Barcoding Initiative we barcoded more than 70 species of odonates, focusing mostly on species from Iberian Peninsula. Genomic DNA was extracted and the barcoding mitochondrial COI gene fragment (658 bp) was amplified. DNA barcodes were sequenced using either Sanger or high-throughput sequencing (Illumina). Our results exhibited a scenario that illustrates some of the challenges posed by insect identification using DNA barcoding. While many species can be easily identified using the mitochondrial COI gene fragment, this is not truth to all. Not all species possess a specific DNA barcode that allows the correct assignment of taxonomic names to unidentified specimens. For instance, two groups of Coenagrionids species share mtDNA haplotypes. Other species possess multiple copies of COI in the genome, impeding successful Sanger sequencing, which can be overcome using Next Generation Sequencing. These sequences are also likely to be detected in eDNA metabarcoding studies, and should therefore be documented and databased for more accurate estimation of taxa diversity and species identification. This data provides important insights into the diversity and taxonomy of odonates and guidelines to achieve a more reliable and useful Barcode reference database.

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Translocated population as a source of genetic variation for the original population: Fifteen years monitoring of

Leucorrhinia dubia

Ožana S.1,2, Choleva L.1,2, Šigutová H.2, Dolný A.1,2

1 Department of Biology and Ecology, University of Ostrava, Chittussiho 10, 710 00 Ostrava, Czech Republic

2 Institute of Environmental Technologies, Faculty of Science, University of Ostrava, 30. dubna 22, 701 03 Ostrava, Czech Republic


Role of translocation, including reintroduction, became very important tool in last years due to increasing destruction of natural habitats caused by humans. Translocation success with the ability to persist and reproduce depends on many factors like a size of translocated population or a condition of a new habitat. Conservation projects mostly focused on vertebrates in the past times while invertebrates have seldom been studied. Here we measured genetic diversity fifteen years after translocation of a founder population of dragonfly, Leucorrhinia dubia, using five polymorphic microsatellite markers. The translocated population was compared with its source population and a reference population, all from the Central Europe. We also measured a total number of individuals and collected ecological information about translocated and source sites. The translocated population showed surprisingly a higher genetic diversity than the source population. We also counted a higher total number of larvae in 2015 when compared with a founder population from 2001 (115 vs 80). Estimated effective population size of the translocated population showed highest values when compared to the source and the reference populations. The likely reason for the situation in the source site is a population decrease due to peat extraction by industrial milling between 2001–2015. If true, our results showed that even translocated populations may serve as a repository of genetic variation for source populations if depleted in future. Translocations can be generally effective mechanisms for dragonfly conservation.

This work was supported by the Czech Science Foundation (GACR), grant no. 18-24425S, Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic in the “National Feasibility Program I”, project LO1208 “TEWEP” and EU structural funding Operational Programme Research and Development for Innovation, project No. CZ.1.05/2.1.00/19.0388.

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Hybridization and sexual appendages: investigating the contact zone of Cordulegaster trinacriae and C. boltonii

Sönke Hardersen1, Paolo Audisio2, Valentina Amorosi2, Gabriele Senczuk2, Gloria Antonini2, Emanuela Solano2

1 Centro Nazionale per lo Studio e la Conservazione della Biodiversità Forestale "Bosco Fontana" Carabinieri, Strada Mantova 29, 46045 Marmirolo (MN), Italy

2 Department of Biology and Biotechnology ‘‘Charles Darwin’’, University of Rome “La Sapienza”, Rome, Italy


Cordulegaster trinacriae is endemic to southern Italy, while C. boltonii occurs in northern and central Italy. Both species have been reported from southern Latium and from here also individuals with an intermediate morphology had been known, but it was unclear to which species these belong. The aim of this work was to investigate the geographical boundaries between the two species and to determine the extent of any hybridization, using mitochondrial (mtDNA) and nuclear (nDNA) markers and geometric morphometrics applied to sexual appendages.

Genetic markers and morphology confirmed the validity of two species, but also revealed the presence of hybrids in an area stretching from Marche to southern Latium. In the hybrid zone, all individuals morphologically assigned to C. trinacriae and C. boltonii were confirmed by the genetic data. In contrast, the morphologically intermediate individuals were both homozygous and heterozygous for the nuclear marker. The comparative analysis of mtDNA and nDNA data provided evidence for the presence of hybrids and indicated that this hybridization is asymmetric. Specifically, the males of C. trinacriae can mate both interspecifically and intraspecifically. The morphological differences of the male appendages in the two species indicate the importance of size and shape of these structures for constraining intraspecific matings. The genetic data revealed that the two species originated about 1.32 Mya ago and that the hybridization was a recent event, which resulted from the postglacial expansion of both taxa. Cordulegaster trinacriae, a rare and protected species, has been moving northward, probably driven by climate change, intruding into populations of C. boltonii.


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International Activities in the 25th Year of Slovene Dragonflies Society

Ana Tratnik, Damjan Vinko, Ali Šalamun, Maja Bahor, Nina Erbida

Slovene Dragonfly Society


In 2017, Slovene Dragonfly Society (SOD) celebrated its 25th anniversary. Among

others activities for the occasion, 3 international events were organised or co-organised by the Society. 7th Balkan OdonatOlogical Meeting or BOOM, each year organised in a different country on the Balkan peninsula, this year took place in Slovenia. Dragonfly Exuviae Identification Workshop was organised in cooperation with Christophe Brochard. Biological Summer Research Camp was organised in partnership with Biology Students' Society of University of Ljubljana.

All these events included field work with contribution to the knowledge of dragonfly species distribution of regions where we worked. Altogether in these events, 58 dragonfly and damselfly species were reported (out of 73 known for Slovenia).

Dragonfly Exuviae Identification Workshop took place in the first weekend of June 2017, with 21 participants from 8 countries attending. Although the main goal was to learn about dragonfly exuviae identification, also some field work was done, with 44 dragonfly species reported. Workshop took place in Dolenjska region (SE Slovenia), where also most of the fieldwork was done, but the most interesting finding was near Ljubljana. At fish ponds Draga pri Igu Leucorrhinia pectoralis was recorded for the first time after 18 years in central Slovenia.

On Biological Summer Research Camp, which took place in eastern part of Gorenjska region (Central-NW Slovenia) in late July 2017, 38 dragonfly species were recorded. Two of them – Ophiogomphus cecilia and Anax ephippiger – were new for the region. Group for Odonata consisted of students from Slovenia and Croatia.

At 7th Balkan OdonatOlogical Meeting (BOOM) 32 odonatologists from 8 countries participated. In early August 2017, 48 dragonfly species were recorded and

almost 800 records collected. BOOM took place in Gorenjska region and in Central

Slovenia. The meeting ended with a picnic and party for socienty’s 25th anniversary.

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How to teach dragonflies – some notes from twenty years experience

Klaus-Jürgen Conze

GDO – Gesellschaft deutschsprachiger Odonatologen, Germany


At least in Germany the number of species experts is declining. One major reason is that even in the universities no profound knowledge is conveyed. But for the sake of biodiversity we need people who can determine what “flies there”. With dragonflies especially the situation is better, a lot of volunteers are very interested in these fascinating insects. But to keep the offspring strong we all can work as multipliers and may be we must. After more than 20 years of telling many people how to determine dragonflies some extracts of experience will be presented. The best way to learn dragonflies is to know their whole story. So a holistic view is more enduring than colour patterns or wing venations, using apps and reading is not

sufficient, coming closer and in thoughtful touch is needed 😉 So a course should

always be a combination of theory and practice in the field. All participants should learn by themselves how to observe and catch a dragonfly without harming the animal and its habitat. Trying a careful grip and having a very close look to all detectable features touches more than even marvellous pictures and good descriptions can. The combination of all these options to learn about dragonflies boost the sustainability of the new knowledge because it is then integrated in a network of associated information and memories.

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The invasive calico crayfish Faxonius immunis as a new major threat for European Odonata: biology and

management

Andreas Martens, Alexander Herrmann, Andreas Stephan

Institute for Biology, PH Karlsruhe, Germany


The calico crayfish Faxonius (formerly Orconectes) immunis is spreading at the Upper Rhine area. Recently the species is occurring from Kehl to Mainz. The species is spreading in streams and ditches. By moving over land, individuals are able to colonize ponds. Because of their fecundity, reaching maturity just after three month in warm water and having non-limited food-supply as well as having approx. 250 eggs per female, they are able to grow high population densities just after invasion. The calico crayfish is omnivorous, and acting as a top-predator in ponds. By burrowing in clayey ground, it is able to form very dense populations as well as survive drought periods in temporary waters.

The aim of the paper is (1) to focus on invasive crayfish as a threat for Odonata, (2) to inform the community of European odonatologists about the invasive calico crayfish and (3) to report on first managements actions.

Note: Lecturing like: Ecology, monitoring and management and example of calico crayfish Faxonius immunis management approaches by Andreas

Martens.


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Invasive crayfish and their impact on dragonflies on the European level

Jürgen Ott

L.U.P.O. GmbH, Friedhofstr. 28, D - 67705 Trippstadt, Germany


Invasive crayfish are regarded since many years as a problem for the conservation of autochthonous crayfish, as they are a vector of the deadly crayfish plague (Aphanomyces astaci), although they are not affected themselves.

In recent years, however, evidence has increasingly been provided that invasive crayfish have a negative effect on other taxonomic groups, such as fish, mussels and amphibians (especially their aquatic living larvae).

In this presentation the negative effects on the group of dragonflies (Odonata) are presented on the basis of different case studies. The most widespread in Germany are the spinycheek crayfish (Orconectes limosus) and the signal crayfish (Pacifastacus leniusculus), whereby the second species in particular was recognized as directly problematic for some dragonfly species. So he has apparently extinguished the only occurrence of the orange spotted emerald (Oxygastra curtisii) in Germany on the river Our.

In the floodplain of the river Rhine in the two German federal states of Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate the calico crayfish (Orconectes immunis) increased its distribution area remarkably, which has a strong influence on the dragonfly fauna of the floodplain, also affecting several dragonfly species of the EC habitats directive (e.g. Leucorrhinia caudalis, Ophiogomphus cecilia).

Meanwhile this invasive species arrived in North Rhine-Westphalia via the Rhine and soon will appear in the Netherlands.

From a nature conservation point of view, the problem of invasive crayfish is not negligible and will lead to significantly increasing losses in the dragonfly fauna in the future - as well as in the amphibian fauna and other aquatic invertebrate taxa. Beside the already mentioned species also some others with similar negative effects already occur in the wild, e.g. the red swamp crayfish (Procambarus clarkii) or the pathenogenetic marbled crayfish (Procambarus virginalis).

In the past two to three decades, the dragonfly fauna in Germany had recovered well in many areas as a consequence of various environmental and nature conservation measures (renaturation of running waters, water purification measures, etc.) and many species were downgraded in the last Red List (2015).

Currently, however, these successes are again strongly questioned by the spread of the different invasive crayfish, and some dragonfly species show signs of decline again.


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It should be noted that the increasing spread of invasive cancers affects not only individual species or species groups, but entire ecosystems and their ecosystem services.

This will lead to effects that cannot yet be fully estimated, including neighboring habitats. Developments in dragonflies are a first and good indicator of these impacts and threats.

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Overkill – Case studies on the impact of the invasive crayfish Faxonius immunis (Hagen) on dragonfly larvae and

other macroinvertebrates in conservation ponds

Alexander Herrmann1, Andreas Stephan1, Andreas Martens1

1Institute of Biology, University of Education Karlsruhe, Bismarckstraße 10, 76133 Karlsruhe, Germany


The non-indigenous crayfish Faxonius immunis (Hagen) is the dominant crayfish species at the Upper Rhine River system since his detection in 1993. As an invasive alien species, it is one of the biggest threats to aquatic biodiversity in that area. By dispersing over land, the species has a high potential to colonize small ponds created for threatened odonates and amphibians. Shortly after invasion, the fast growing population of F. immunis is changing the habitat drastically.

We compared data on presence of odonatan larvae and other macrobenthos from a pond created for amphibian conservation between the year 2015 and 2017, before and after F. immunis built high population densities. In a second case study, we estimated the crayfish density using mark-recapture method and monitored the macrobenthos in a pond funded by the European Union within the Life-+ program. The comparison shows significant reduction in Coleoptera, Odonata, Mollusca and Trichoptera between the years 2015 and 2017. We could show that F. immunis can grow densities towards > 15 crayfish*m-² in small conservation ponds while decreasing odonates to a minimum.


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Poster session

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The project InNat: collecting records of insect species listed in the Habitats Directive with the help of citizens

Sönke Hardersen1, Marco Bardiani1, Alessandro Campanaro1,2, Emanuela Maurizi2, Fabio Mosconi2, Lara Redolfi De Zan1,2, Giuseppino Sabbatini Peverieri2, Livia Zapponi1,2, Franco Mason1

1 Centro Nazionale per lo Studio e la Conservazione della Biodiversità Forestale "Bosco Fontana" Carabinieri, Strada Mantova 29, 46045 Marmirolo (MN), Italy

2 Consiglio per la ricerca in agricoltura e l’analisi dell’economia agraria –Difesa e Certifcazione, Via di Lanciola 12/a, Cascine del Riccio, 50125 Firenze, Italy


The project InNat is funded by the Italian Ministry of the Environment and is coordinated by the National Centre of Forest Biodiversity "Bosco Fontana" Carabinieri. The aims of this initiative are: to further the knowledge on the Natura 2000 network and on the Habitats Directive in Italy, the involvement of citizens in recording insects species listed in the Habitats Directive and the training of staff of state owned nature reserves for the monitoring of five insects species.

The focus of this poster is on the citizen science part of the project InNat. It allows everyone to send records of insects species listed in the Habitats Directive via a dedicated homepage (www.innat.it) or using the app InNat (Android® & iPhone®). Thirty species belonging to the following orders are considered: Odonata (7 species), Orthoptera (2 species), Coleoptera (5 species) and Lepidoptera (16 species). In particular, the odonate species considered are: Coenagrion mercuriale, Cordulegater trinacriae, Gomphus flavipes, Leucorrhinia pectoralis, Ophiogomphus cecilia, Oxygastra curtisii, Sympecma paedisca. Each record needs to be accompanied by a photograph, to allow validation by experts. Once a record has been accepted it is rendered visible for everyone, but the exact point is not revealed. This is achieved by introducing a random error of approximately 10 km. All accepted records are inserted in the database of the project and is thus available also through the National Network of Biodiversity, a shared data management system consisting of a central node, which allows to search and manage the data. The central node retrieves the data from peripheral servers, such as that of the National Centre of Forest Biodiversity "Bosco Fontana" Carabinieri.

One of the most important tasks of the project staff is the promotion of the citizen science approach and currently numerous activities are carried out, involving schools, nature reserves, naturalists, etc. It is the first time that odonatological records, exclusively of rare species, are collected with a citizen science approach. This method has proofed successful for saproxyilic beetles of the Habitats Directive (Life project MIPP) and is here extended to Odonata.


http://www.innat.it/

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The occurrence of Cordulegaster heros (Cordulegastridae) in Slovakia and modeling of potentional occurrence

Attila Balázs, Otakar Holuša

Mendel University in Brno, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, Zemědělská st. 3, 613 00, Czech Republic


Cordulegaster heros Theischinger, 1979 is an East-submediterranean species with a Balkan-type area. Its area includes the whole Balkan Peninsula, at present there is information about its disjoint area in this territory. The area centre is located in Slovenia, northern Croatia, eastern Austria. There was an intensive research all over Slovakia (in year 1997-2018), with an emphasis on the southern foothill of the Carpathian Mountains at an altitude to 400 m. a.s.l. Species was found at 103 locations (based on the occurrence of larvae). Its area in Slovakia is also disjointed, concentrated in western and central Slovakia. The majority of locations are within range of 270 to 360 m a.s.l. The modelling of occurrence based on factors (altitude, climatic data, geological bedrock, geomorphology and characteristics of watercourses) can be attributed to other areas of this species occurring in eastern Slovakia where, however, the species has not yet been found.

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How important are you?

Dušan Šácha

State Nature Conservancy of Slovak Republic, Trenčianska 31, Nemšová, ZIP Code: 914 41, Slovakia


Anecdotal evidence seems to support hypothesis that researchers may be an important vector of dispersion of (not only) dragonfly species. Poster deals with spatial and chronological relations between author´s research and atypical occurrence of several species of dragonflies and algae. There is also evidence of a libellulid larva surviving 4 hours long journey in sun-heated car in a hot summer day – hiding among wet clothing and footwear. Although there may be other ways to explain these reporting, facilitation of species dispersion via researcher´s apparel is worthwhile further investigation.

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Odonata – fast colonizers of a newly restored habitats

Ana Štih, Toni Koren

Association Hyla, Lipovac I no. 7, HR-10000 Zagreb, Croatia


The Mediterranean area represents one of the most important hot spots for the dragonfly diversity in Europe, and the same is true with the east Adriatic coastline in Croatia, on which more than 40 species of Odonata occur. Aside from lakes and rivers which are few and far apart, across the coastline and the Adriatic islands the karstic ponds represent the most numerous and most important habitats for Odonata and other freshwater plant and animal species. These habitats are usually very small and fragile, and were maintained sometimes for centuries by the local inhabitants as a source of fresh water for them and their domestic animals. Nowadays such karstic ponds are in most cases forgotten and neglected, and are slowly disappearing across the whole karstic area of Croatia.

In addition, while even basic faunistic data about the occurrence of Odonata in most parts of Croatia are still lacking, it is impossible to access the full importance of the karstic ponds for the Odonata fauna. Still, in large parts of the coastline and on almost all the Adriatic islands they represent the only suitable habitats for the development of Odonata in the region, and their disappearance is directly connected with the disappearance of all Odonata species from the area. Still, almost nothing is known about the repopulation of such habitats after the restoration and/or creation of a new karstic ponds. In order to access the repopulation potential, we conducted a survey of Odonata fauna on a newly restored pond. The pond is located in the Protected area Donji Kamenjak in Istria peninsula, western Croatia. It is the only pond in the area, with the closest one distanced 3,6 kilometres away of which 0,5 km is across the open sea. While serving for at least a century as a freshwater source for cattle, the pond has been abandoned and has completely disappeared several years ago.

In 2015 the complete restoration of the pond occurred, and during 2015 and 2016 the repopulation of the dragonfly fauna was monitored each month. All the individuals were caught and marked, and as a possible source of species, the same was performed on a nearby pond located in the village Medulin, distanced about 3,6 km. A total of 115 individuals were marked on Medulin and 221 on newly restored pond, but no re-catch between ponds occurred. Six species were recorded at Kamenjak, but not in Medulin, indicating that Medulind pond does not represent the only source of Odonata repopulating the Kamenjak pond, but they probably travelled much longer distances. Altogether 16 species were recorded on a newly restored pond, of which 10 completed their lifecycle, which was proved by findings of exuviae and juvenile individuals in 2016. The most notable record was that of the breeding occurrence of Hemianax ephippiger, with several dozen emerging


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individuals in 2016. Our survey shows that dragonflies are able to quickly recolonize newly available water bodies (75% of all recorded species were caught six months after restoration) and use them to complete their life cycle.

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New data and first checklist of Odonata from Republic of Kosovo

Damjan Vinko1, Dejan Kulijer2, Ferdije Zhushi Etemi3, Maja Hostnik1 & Ali Šalamun4, 1

1 Slovene Dragonfly Society, Verovškova 56, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia; e-mail: [email protected]

2 National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Zmaja od Bosne 3, 71000 Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina; e-mail: [email protected]

3 Department of Biology, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Prishtina”Hasan Prishtina”, George Bush nn, 10000 Prishtinë, Kosovo; e-mail: [email protected]

4 Centre for Cartography of Fauna and Flora, Antoličičeva 1, 2204 Miklavž na Dravskem polju; [email protected]


Republic of Kosovo, covering an area of 10.908 km2, is a West Balkan country where dragonflies are very poorly investigated. For Kosovo, Atlas of the European dragonflies and damselflies reports 22 dragonfly species, with less than 50 data altogether and majority of records collected before 1990, which makes Kosovo one of the least investigated European countries considering dragonfly fauna. Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Prishtina holds a collection of specimens of 16 species and data records for 25 dragonfly species from the territory of Kosovo. All these records were collected after 2003. Additionally, a record of Chalcolestes viridis from 2011 is found on online database for mapping and monitoring biodiversity of Serbia – BioRas.

For now, no dragonfly species is protected in Kosovo, while the Red book of fauna of Kosovo, that will include also dragonflies, is in preparation.

In spring 2018 in the period from end of April to end of May first systematic survey, supported by International Dragonfly Fund, was conducted. Altogether, 32 dragonfly species where recorded at 41 sites. Among others, new data for Coenagrion ornatum, Cordulegaster heros and Caliaeschna microstigma, species of broader European concern, was collected. Larvae were sampled at lotic habitats only. Seven species were recorded for the first time in Kosovo.

Six species from the collection of University of Prishtina were not recorded during this spring survey, all are summer and autumn species. Three species from Atlas of the European dragonflies and damselflies – Lestes dryas, Coenagrion pulchellum and Aeshna juncea – were not recorded in this spring survey and are


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also not included in the collection of University of Prishtina; all were recorded previous to 1990.

Results from this spring survey, records from Atlas of the European dragonflies and damselflies, together with records from the collection of University of Prishtina and mentioned record from BioRas give the first checklist of Odonata from Republic of Kosovo which consist of 42 species.

As a part of the Balkan odonatological cooperation, the 8th Balkan OdonatOlogical Meeting (BOOM) will also be held in Kosovo this year (3.–10. August 2018), after which an annotated species’ checklist will be prepared, in which also data collected in the field survey planned for end of June 2018 will be included and also presented at ECOO 2018 in Brno.

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Morphometric measurements of Cordulegaster bidentata and Cordulegaster heros dragonfly nymphs (Odonata) from

Slovakia

Stanislav David, Lenka Zahoranova

Faculty of Natural Sciences, Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra, Slovakia


The understanding of morphometric characteristics of Dragonflies is topical in current time. The morphometric features are indispensable for determination of the species. A morphometric analysis helps to understand the relationship among the body parts and could be used for monitoring of weather attributes, e.g. the climate change. In the last decades the morphometric features are also used as phenetic approaches to assessment of similarity among species and highe taxa. The multivariate techniques, a cluster and an ordination analysis can be used to carry out this task. Cordulegaster species are the dragonflies, which prefer small forest streams with rapid current, but also still water habitats – spring areas. Actually in Slovakia the genus of Cordulegaster is represented by two species C. bidentata and C. heros. The third mentioned species of C. boltoni has been mistaken because of the incorrect identification. In this work we report a morphometric data on C. bidentata and C. heros. We selected two morphological features and with the help of the regression analysis we determined their growth phases (larval instars). The material for morphometric analysis of C. heros and C. bidentata larvae has been collected from 43 locations from 2013 to 2017. The collection consists of a total of 191 specimens of nymphs, which were preserved in vials containing 76 % ethanol. Our statistical database comprises of 43 male, 41 female (n = 84) nymphs of C. bidentata and 58 male, 49 female (n=107) nymphs of C. heros. Six following variables were measured: length of body (LB), length of pyramid anal (LPA), head width (HW), prementum total length (PTL), length of anterior femur (LAF) and length of right forewing-pad (LRFP) respectively. The nymphs were measured by digital calliper with precision 0.01 mm, we used stereoscopic microscope. Statistical analyses were performed using the statistic software Statistica ver. 7. We used descriptive statistics data which were expressed as average ± standard deviation (SD). The comparisons between the groups of variables and both males and females were performed with the analysis of non-parametric test. The value of p<0.05 was considered statistically significant. Normality of the morphometric data

was analysed using Shapiro-Wilk test (p=0.05). Sex ratio by C. bidentata favored males (43 male, 41 female), χ2= 0.0476, df = 1, p < 0.8273. As for the C. heros the males (n = 58) were more frequent than females (n = 49), χ2= 0.7570, df = 1, p < 0.3843. The answer is the same either way: no statistical significant difference in the number of males and females. Descriptive statistics showed differences


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between the species (C. heros was significantly larger than C. bidentata) and sexes (females C. heros showed significantly larger size than C. bidentata), Ia, b – IIa, b.

Ia- Descriptive statistics of nymphs C. bidentata (♂, n=43; in mm, the values of the measured characters are listed in order: average, min, max and Standard Deviation; LB- length of body, LPA- length of pyramid anal, HW- head width, PTL- prementum total length, LAF- length of anterior femur, LRFP- length of right forewing- pad): LB- 22.21, 9.64, 35.67, 6.87; LPA- 2.11, 0.65, 4.17, 0.81; LRFP- 3.85, 0.41, 10.25, 3.02; HW- 5.20, 1.94, 9.08, 1.77; PTL- 6.53, 3.23, 10.07, 1.78; LAF- 5.06, 2.03, 9.65, 1.73.

Ib- Descriptive statistics of nymphs C. bidentata (♀, n=41): LB- 29.35, 19.79, 36.90, 4.73; LPA- 2.79, 1.42, 3.35, 0.43; LRFP- 7.36, 1.65, 10.17, 2.54; HW- 7.21, 4.72, 8.58, 1.00; PTL- 8.67, 5.87, 10.15, 1.21; LAF- 6.50, 3.65, 9.12, 1.06.

IIa- Descriptive statistics of nymphs C. heros (♂, n=43): LB- 26.11, 9.62, 39.39, 8.82; LPA- 2.02, 0.55, 3.18, 0.76; LRFP- 5.19, 0.32, 10.39, 3.37; HW- 5.73, 2.18, 8.92, 2.06; PTL- 7.21, 3.12, 10.30, 2.10; LAF- 5.50, 2.01, 9.35, 1.92.

IIb- Descriptive statistics of nymphs C. heros (♀, n= 49):LB- 26.35, 14.67, 38.46, 6.89; LPA- 2.27, 0.97, 4.50, 0.68; LRFP- 5.43, 1.61, 10.55, 2.99; HW- 6.26, 3.80, 8.92, 1.51; PTL- 7.68, 4.62, 10.19, 1.70; LAF- 5.77, 3.19, 9.25, 1.67.

Testing the deviations of the mean values between the sexes separately for both species revealed significant differences between some variables of bidentata and heros species and sexes as categorial variables. The significantly different variables were: LB- male: KW-H(1;101) = 5.2623; p = 0.0218, LPA- female: KW-H(1;90) = 17.5451; p = 0.00003, LRFP- male: KW-H(1;101) = 4.9367; p = 0.0263, LRFP- female: KW-H(1;90) = 9.4037; p = 0.0022, HW- female: KW-H(1;90) = 8.6973; p = 0.0032, PTL- female: KW-H(1;90) = 6.4103; p = 0.0113 and LAF- samice: KW-H(1;90) = 6.4924; p = 0.0108. Regression analysis (high correlation coefficients and p-values between all the signs) showed a strong relationship. Nevertheless, analysis of all possible combinations of morphological characteristics showed that only when the head width x length of right forewing-pad were taken into consideration we could identify the highest number of instars (F0–F4). The results of regression analyses: C. bidentata = HW x LRFP: r= 0.9537, R2 = 0.9095, p<0.0000; C. heros = HW x LRFP: r= 0.9255, R2= 0.8566 p<0.0000. Our work includes the first processing of the morphometric characteristics of the Cordulegaster species in our country. So far we have processed the largest data set of morphometric data for Slovakia.

This work was supported by a grant No. 1/0496/16 “Assessment of natural capital, biodiversity and ecosystem services in Slovakia”.

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Dragonfly trait databases: Where are we now?

Hronková Jana, Harabiš Filip

Department of Ecology, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamýcká 129, Praha – Suchdol, CZ-165 00, Czech Republic


There is no doubt that Europe faces an unprecedented decline in insect diversity. Climate change and an ever-increasing anthropogenic influence on most ecosystems increases the need to understand how to mitigate the effects of these influences but also to include the functional links between organisms. The subject of the study of many ecological disciplines is no longer diversity, but "functional diversity". As a "trait" we refer to a "selective value of organisms" that allow us to understand interactions between organisms and their environment. Since these traits are selected non-randomly, their proper selection and measurement is absolutely crucial. Dragonflies and damselflies are widely used as environmental indicators, but the reality is that we do not have even basic traits for the majority of "well known" species. That is why we have decided to create and maintain an open database of European dragonfly species. Primary information was obtained from books and databases (WOS, Scopus). However, we still have a pandemic lack of information about many species. That's why we would like to ask you for help. We do not want the individual data to be lost in the sea of averages, and we believe that every piece of information is valuable. For more information, please visit: dragon-database.eu.


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Submerged oviposition in Lestes sponsa – special behaviour under the manipulative experiment

Jana Helebrandová, Aleš Dolný, Petr Pyszko

University of Ostrava, Dvořákova 7, 701 03, Ostrava, Czech Republic


The emerald damselfly Lestes sponsa (Odonata: Lestidae) is known as a generalist, but there is a rarely described behaviour of this species which seems to be bounded just with some certain conditions – submerged oviposition. This special ovipositional tactic can be massively preferred by Lestes sponsa on some sites. Rarely observed and measured, the submerged oviposition depends on a perfect coordination between the male and female in tandem, where they have their role and duty. This became obvious especially in the situation when the submerging specimen had an option to make a tandem with an inexperienced specimen within the manipulative experiment in the net cage. The submerged oviposition itself has been already described in few another dragonfly species, but the total character of this behaviour, especially the parameters and proportions of it, are finally very different for every species according to its life style.

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Name and surname

Institution E-mail Country

Rosalyn Sparrow

Cyprus Dragonfly Study Group [email protected] Cyprus

David Sparrow

Cyprus Dragonfly Study Group [email protected] Cyprus

Otakar Holuša

Mendel University in Brno [email protected] Czech Republic

Kateřina Holušová


Josef Kašák Mendel University in

Brno [email protected] Czech Republic

Jiří Foit Mendel University in


Attila Balázs Mendel University in


Filip Harabiš Czech University of Life Sciences Prague [email protected] Czech Republic

Nick van Wouwen

Independent researcher [email protected] Netherlands

Klaus-Jürgen Conze

GDO [email protected] Germany

Věra Hubačíková


Steve Prentice

Independent researcher [email protected] United Kingdom

Peter Peitzner

Independent researcher [email protected] Germany

Gabi Peitzner Independent researcher [email protected] Germany

Inge Nagstrup Independent researcher [email protected] Denmark

Jenette Fox-Jacobsson

Independent researcher [email protected] Sweden

Magnus Billqvist

Swedish Dragonfly Society [email protected] Sweden
















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Name and surname


Dolf Ramaker Independent researcher [email protected] Netherlands

Ana Tratnik

Slovene

Odonatological

Society [email protected] Slovenia

Heinrich Fliedner


Traute Fliedner


Angélica Selene Ensaldo Cárdenas

Institute of Ecology. The National Autonomous

University of Mexico [email protected] Mexico

Diana Goertzen

TU Braunschweig [email protected] Germany

Geert De Knijf

Research Institute of Nature and Forest

(INBO) [email protected] Belgium

Despina Dinova (Kitanova)

Macedonian Ecological Society

[email protected] Macedonia

Patric Carlsson

Trollsländeföreningen, Sweden [email protected] Sweden

Sänke Hardersen

Centro Nazionale per lo Studio e la

Conservazione della Biodiversità Forestale

"Bosco Fontana" - Carabinieri [email protected] Italy

Peter Brown British Dragonfly

Society [email protected] United Kingdom

Dušan Šácha

State Nature Conservancy of Slovak

Republic [email protected] Slovakia

Aurélie Husté Rouen Normandy University, France [email protected] France














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Name and surname


Alexander Herrmann

Institute of Biology, University of

Education Karlsruhe [email protected] Germany

Ana Štih Association Hyla [email protected] Croatia

Marceau Minot

Rouen Normandy University, France [email protected] France

Jürgen Ott

L.U.P.O., GmbH, Trippstadt,

Friedhofstr. 28, zIP Code: D - 67705

Trippstadt, Germany [email protected] Germany

Nga Ott

L.U.P.O., GmbH, Trippstadt,

Friedhofstr. 28, zIP Code: D - 67705

Trippstadt, Germany [email protected] Germany

Andreas Martnes

Institute for Biology, PH Karlsruhe [email protected] Germany

Michal Hykel

Department of Biology and Ecology, University of Ostrava [email protected] Czech Republic

Damjan Vinko Slovene Dragonfly

Society [email protected] Slovenia

Stanislav Ožana


Lena Kulić Belgrade University,

Faculty of Biology [email protected] Serbia

Andreas Stephan

University of Education Karlsruhe, Institute of Biology

[email protected] Germany

Miikka Friman

Jokitörmäntie, Finland [email protected] Finland

Robin Pranter Lund University [email protected] Sweden
















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Name and surname


Stanislav David

Faculty of Natural Sciences, Constantine

the Philosopher University in Nitra,

Slovakia [email protected] Slovakia

Hana Šigutová

University of Ostrava, Czech Republic [email protected] Czech Republic

Jana Helebrandová

University of Ostrava, Czech Republic [email protected] Czech Republic

Jana Hronková

Faculty of Life Sciences, Czech

University of Life Sciences [email protected] Czech Republic

Sonia Ferreira

Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e

Recursos Genéticos (CIBIO) [email protected] Portugal

Christophe Brochard

Bureau Biota [email protected] the Netherlands

Aleš Dolný


Petr Marada Mendel University in Brno, Czech Republic [email protected] Czech Republic

Martin Černý Charles University [email protected] Czech Republic










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KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

Aleš Dolný

Associated professor at University of Ostrava, Faculty of Science, a head of Biology and Ecology Department. He deals with ecology, fauna and protection of dragonflies. From the point of view of the researcher, he is primarily attracted by controversial issues concerning the unique ecological phenomena and paradoxes of life in the waters of the mining landscape. He emphasises that rare types, unique in the whole of the Czech Republic, can be bound to industrial types of the aquatic environment and that secondary wetlands, such

as dropped pools or even mining tanks, can become a surprisingly important stabilizing ecological element.

Filip Harabiš

A research Assistant at Faculty of Environmental Science, Czech University of Life Sciences, Department of Ecology. He is ecologist with professional focussing to evaluation of diversity of Odonata in human altered ecosystems; Ecological relationships between Odonata and insect parasitoids; to protection of an endangered dragonflies (Odonata) in secondary biotopes.

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Otakar Holuša

Professor at Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology at Mendel University in Brno, forester and entomologist. More than 20 years worked as practical forester for Forest Management Institute, to his scientific topic belong forestry management and forest protections (include forest pest control and natural conditions classification). Like a great hobby he has dragonflies especially Cordulegaster group. He focuses on dragonflies’ behaviour, bionomics and biotope description.

Andreas Martens

Professor for Biology Education. Research interests in evolutionary biology and biodiversity of European and African dragonflies; aquatic invasions; biodiversity, water and education & virtual reality and their limits in teaching science. Director of the Institute of European Studies and Bilingualism at Karlsruhe University of Education from 2005 to 2010. More than 35 years in Odonatology, with focus on reproductive behaviour, habitat choice during oviposition, interactions with other organisms (parasites, epibionts), odonates in arid regions and islands. More than 22 years in aquatic invasions: identification keys for crustaceans, autecology, vectors and recently: management.

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Jürgen Ott

In 1990 he graduated form PhD on the ecology of dragonflies. He is working now as a managing director of L.U.P.O. GmbH - a private office for landscape and environmental planning, working mainly in Germany, but also in Italy and South-East Asia.

In the past lecturer at different universities (e.g. Univ of Kaiserslautern, Milan) and presently lecturer for environmental and landscape planning at Landau University (Germany) and Da Nang University (Vietnam). He is an author and co-author of many scientific

publications, books and red lists. A member of several scientific societies and NGO´s on nature conservation, actually also president of the POLLICHIA (one of the oldest German societies for natural science).

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MID CONGRESS TOUR

„…to the northernmost point of Cordulegaster heros area“

We would like to visit several very interesting places near Brno city. Early in the morning we would got the buses (about 6 o’clock in the morning on the spot) and visit the Chřiby hills area, where the northernmost point of the occurrence of Cordulegaster heros is located. In a bit of luck, exuviae can be found at small creeks at the beginning of July. Cordulegaster bidentata is there also found on small forest springs too.

We would continue to the localities in the Pannonian lowland near the village Šardice, where are revitalized wetlands, and a system of small lakes in sandy sediments. Here, you could see a large population of Coenagrion scitulum (flight time probably will be over, we can see larvae), Anax parthenope, Crocothemis eryhraea, Aeshna isosceles, and many more (27 species in total).

Depends on the time possibilities, we would continue to the southernmost region of Moravia (towards the Austrian and Slovak border), where we would see at the flow of the Morava River with the presence of numerous populations of Gomphus flavipesand Ophiogomphus cecilia. On the gravel pits, we can see about 33 species of dragonflies, including the most numerous of the population Epitheca bimaculata in the Czech Republic. Other species are here Brachytron pratense, Anax parthenope, Aeshna isosceles, Leucorhinia pectoralis and others.

For the birdwatchers territory near Lanžhot is very interesting for observing Aquila heliaca (regurarly nesting), Falco cherrug, Platalea leucorodia, Milvus migrans, Milvus milvus …

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For your note:

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70

Did not pass language editing.

Title:

ECOO 2018, 5th European

Congress on Odonatology, Book of

Abstracts, 9-12th July, Brno, Czech

Republic

Name of authors: Composite authors

Publisher:

Mendel University in Brno,

Zemědělská 1, 613 00 Brno, Czech

Republic

Printed by: Mendel University Press, Zemědělská 1, 613 00 Brno

Edition: 1st Edition, 2018

Edited by: Kateřina Holušová

Number of pages: 70

Number of copies: 120

ISBN: 978-80-7509-560-2

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