Riesen-Quelljungfer
© Themis Nasopoulou (Foto) & Clemens M. Brandstetter (Text)
(from Boudot & al. 2009:148): Cordulegaster heros chiefly a southeastern European species ranging from Austria and Slovakia to a large part of the Balkans. Its eastern limit is unknown but it is likely that C. boltonii from the Ukraine refer in fact to C. heros. It is locally common but scattered because of its specific habitat, mostly shaded rivulets in mountainous areas. In the Mediterranean region this species is currently decfreasing due to habitat destruction, particularly by woodcutting, climate change and desiccation of streams.
Società italiana per lo studio e la conservazione delle libellule.
IUCN-Red-List: The distribution of the endemic C. heros is restricted from central to southeastern Europe. A better knowledge of its distribution in for instance Romania is urgently needed. It is locally common but apparently scattered because of its specific habitat (shaded brooks, streams and medium-sized rivers with gritty bottom). This species is threatened mainly by habitat loss, dessication of rivers increased by climate change, which results in streams drying up as a consequence of rainfall deficit and increase of water extraction and spring capture for irrigation purpose. Forest destruction through logging and forest fires also contribute to stream dessication. At the European scale, the species is assessed Near Threatened because of its scattered distribution and specialization and its likely reduction in the near future.
Die Riesen-Quelljungfer, Cordulegaster heros Theischinger 1979, wurde erst jüngst beschrieben und erst in den letzten Jahren wurden weitere Vorkommen entdeckt und verifiziert (Sucescka & Karacic 2011). Sie leben an etwa ein Meter breiten schmalen und sauberen Bächen.
Froufe & al. (2014) präsentieren eine Studie über genetische Untersuchungen an der Gattung Cordulegaster. Die bisher traditionell unterschiedenen Artengruppen haben sich auch genetisch bestätigt: "Although Odonata are a key component of many freshwater ecosystems, their taxonomy and evolutionary history is still far from being well resolved. In the present study, we report the first molecular phylogeny for the Western Palaearctic Cordulegaster genus (Odonata: Anisoptera: Cordulegastridae). We sequenced fragments of both mitochondrial and nuclear genes [cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) and Internal Transcribed Spacer-1 (ITS-1)] from eight species and 13 subspecies, from western, southern and central Europe, Turkey, and Morocco. Our data support the existence of two major groups corresponding to the traditional boltonii– and bidentata-groups. Both groups are monophyletic based on COI sequences and the distinctiveness of Cordulegaster princeps, Cordulegaster trinacriae, Cordulegaster picta and Cordulegaster heros relative to Cordulegaster boltonii, and Cordulegaster helladica and Cordulegaster insignis relative to Cordulegaster bidentata, is confirmed. All species are also monophyletic for ITS-1, with the exception of Cordulegaster helladica buchholzi, which shares the haplotype with C. insignis. Although moderate levels of genetic diversity were found within C. boltonii, there was no clear separation among the four subspecies, with the exception of the populations of Cordulegaster boltonii algirica from North Africa. Similarly, no genetic differentiation was found between the two subspecies of C. bidentata, Cordulegaster bidentata bidentata and Cordulegaster bidenta sicilica.."
Ein in dem kleinen archäologisch bedeutenden Dorf Dion in Nordgriechenland fotografiertem Paarungsrad.
Literatur:
Boudot J.-P., V. J. Kalkman, M. Amorín, T. Bogdanović, A. Rivera,G. Degabriele, J.L. Dommanget, S. Ferreira, B. Garrigós, M. Jović, M. Kotarac, W. Lopau, M. Marinov, N. Mihoković, E. Riservato, B. Samraoui & W. Schneider 2009: Atlas of the Odonata of the Mediterranean and North Africa. – Libellula Supplement 9:1-256.
Froufe E., Ferreira S., Boudot J.-P., Alves P.C. & D. J. Harris 2014: Molecular phylogeny of the Western Palaearctic Cordulegaster taxa (Odonata: Anisoptera: Cordulegastridae). – Biolog. Journ. Linn. Soc. 111: 49,57.
Suceska S. & J. Karacic 2011: Balkan Goldenring, Cordulegaster heros Theischinger, 1979 (Odonata: Cordulegastridae), a new species of Odonata in the Fauna of Bosnia and Herzegovina. – Acta entomologica serbica, 2011, 16(1/2): 1-7.
Theischinger G. 1979: Cordulegaster heros sp. nov. und Cordulegaster heros pelionensis ssp. nov. zwei neue Taxa des Cordulegaster boltoni (Donovan)–Komplexes aus Europe (Anisoptera: Cordulegasteridae). – Odonatologica 8(1 ): 23-38, f 1-50.