The first records of Trithemis annulata (Palisot de Beauvois, 1807) (Odonata: Libellulidae) in Croatia

Abstract

In August 2022 the first individuals of the dragonfly species Violet dropwing, Trithemis annulata (Palisot de Beauvois, 1807), were observed in Croatia, at three localities in southern Dalmatia. Two males were observed at the Peračko Blato lake, while both males and females were recorded at two localities at the Baćinska Lakes. At the Baćinska Lakes, more than 10 individuals were observed indicating a possible established population. The nearest known reproducing population is located about 160 km to the south, in Montenegro. Due to the species expansion in Europe, and recent records as north as Slovenia, additional records and established populations are to be expected in Croatia. As the species is now known from Croatia, we propose a vernacular name for this species, “ljubičasta skitnica” meaning purple tramp, referring to its coloration, wandering behavior and dispersal potential.

A Warm Welcome to the Alps—The Northward Expansion of Trithemis annulata (Odonata, Libellulidae) in Italy

“…Thirdly, the data presented here coincide with the chrono-sequence of many first records of T. annulata published for Italian regions [35,37,40,41]. Fourthly, the northward shift reported here is in line with the expansion of T. annulata in other European countries, such as Spain, France, Slovenia and Croatia [33,34,57,75,76].…”

“…The present study focuses on Trithemis annulata (Palisot de Beauvais, 1805), a species belonging to the family Libellulidae, one of Africa's most widespread and numerous dragonfly. It dominates open freshwater in Africa and adjacent Eurasia and, in recent decades, has spectacularly expanded its range in southwestern Europe [31][32][33][34][35]. The genus Trithemis dominates many freshwater habitats in Africa because of the flexible responses of these species to the climatic fluctuations since the late Miocene.…”

Two new records of Trithemis annulata (Palisot de Beauvois, 1807) (Odonata: Libellulidae) in Slovenia

“…Its distribution in Europe is outlined in Vinko & Šalamun (2021), who also prepared a map of its distribution in Slovenia and nearest neighbouring countries. Only recently, the species was discovered for the first time also in Croatia (Koren et al 2022, Observation.org 2022. Up to this note, only one male imago of T. annulata was recorded in Slovenia in July 2021 at Lake Vogršček in the Vipava Valley (Vinko & Šalamun 2021).…”