Somatochlora alpestris (Selys, 1840)

Pompilio, Lucia & Mosini, Andrea, 2021, The Odonate fauna of Val Grande National Park (Insecta: Odonata), Fragmenta entomologica 53 (1), pp. 25-42 : 33-34

15. Somatochlora alpestris (Selys, 1840)

Conservation and breeding status: LC (EU), LC (IT), NT (MED), B

This boreo-alpine lentic dragonfly was reported in 4 out of 7 study areas: namely LPO (8,10), LPR (18), CDB (20) and LGE (21); breeding was confirmed in CDB and LGE and deemed likely in the remaining two. S. alpestris was considered rare in Piedmont and Valle d’Aosta by Boano et al. (2007) and Sindaco et al. (2008) and no records were available for VCO at that time. Later surveys confirmed its presence along the alpine border of north eastern Piedmont ( Bionda et al. 2013; Riservato et al. 2014c). Records collected during this study are the first to confirm its presence in PNVG and are spatially separated from the main Alpine ridge by Vigezzo valley. De Marmels & Schiess (1978)

also reported the occurrence of S. alpestris as new in Canton Tessin (apart from an old record dating back to 1880), though they immediately recognized it as the most frequent corduliid; however, they did not collect any observations further south than Vigezzo valley ; the same geographic distribution was confirmed by Wildermuth et al. (2005) .

The autocthony of S. alpestris in the Orobian Prealps (province of Brescia, Lombardy) was described as an interesting record by Gheza (2015) on the basis of its boreo-alpine chorology and Italian distribution, which is limited to the inner part of the Alps, with only a few records coming from the Prealps. Though its occurrence was reported in all Italian alpine regions and despite it being a generalist dragonfly ( Riservato et al. 2014c), many of its isolated populations are considered at risk of substantial alterations due to anthropic intervention or significant changes in climate, because they are scattered and found only in the Alps (Zandigiacomo et al. 2014; Wildermuth et al. 2005; Assandri 2019). S. alpestris distribution may be underestimated because suitable habitats are often located in remote high-altitude sites and populations are accounted for by a few individuals ( Wildermuth et al. 2005; Sindaco et al. 2008; Pettavino 2015).