Acta Hydroentomologica Latvica 2 (1992): 22-26A Russian version O. E. KOSTERIN All-Union Entomological Society NEW FINDINGS OF SOMATOCHLORA SAHLBERGI TRYBOM (INSECTA, ODONATA) A rare circumboreal dragonfly species Somatochlora sahlber- gi Trybom was described from the lower reaches of the Yenisey [Енисей] river (Plakhino [Плахино] and Dudinka [Дудинка] villa- ges) (Белышев, Оводов, 1961; Белышев, 1973). Later it was found in a number of distant localities situated mostly north from the 60th parallel, in northern taiga and forest-tundra zones. They are, namely, former North Finland (Petsamfjord - recently Pe- chenga [Печенга], Murmansk region, USSR) (Valle, 1931); Polar Ural (surroundings of settlement Labytnangi [Лабытнанги]) (Харитонов, 1975); peninsulas Yamal [Ямал] (the Tanlovaya [Танловая] river) (Белышев, Коршунов, 1976), Gydan [Гыдан], and Taymyr [Таймыр] (Белышев, Харитонов, 1981); the middle flow of the Kolyma [Колыма] river (Verkhniy Seymchan [Верхний Сеймчан] town) (Белышев и др., 1978); Kamchatka (the Pauzhetka [Паужетка] river) (Белышев, Харитонов, 1981), Alaska (the Kuskokwim river); North-West Canada (the mouth of the MacKensie river) (Белышев, Оводов, 1961; Белышев, 1973; Белышев, Харитонов, 1981). In the North-West Siberia (Polar Ural, Yamal, Gydan) this species appe- ared to be abundant (Белышев, Харитонов, 1975). In 1960 S. sahlbergi was unexpectedly collected in South Pribaykalye [Южное Прибайкалье] - in Tunkin Valley [Тункинская долина] near Turan [Туран] village (200 km WSW from Irkutsk ci- ty, 18 km from the boundary of Mongolia) at a latitude of 52 (Белышев, Оводов, 1961). Based on this finding B.F.Belyshev sup- posed the species to inhabit a vast territory of Siberian taiga expanding as south as the mountains of South Siberia. However, in his later work he regarded the Tunkin population as a glacial relict, and even described the only male specimen obtained as a new subspecies S.s.relicta Belyshev, differing from the typical one by the shortage of the yellow basal coloration of the wings and by the lighter color of the hairs covering the anal appenda- ges. Nevertheless, this subspecies was not mentionned in his mo- nograph "Dragonflies of Siberia", where broad Siberian areal of the species was again supposed. It was this supposition that appeared to be true as S. sahlbergi was found in the mountains of South Siberia in tho other points: in Kuraiskiy mountain range [Курайский хребет] of Altai (25 km NNW from Aktash [Акташ] village) (Костерин, 1989), and in West Saian [Западный Саян] (surroundings of Abaza [Абаза] town, 150 km SW from Abakan [Абакан] city, 270 km NNE from the previous site) (Харитонова, 1990, and a personal communication by Dr I.N.Haritonova). In July 1989 the fourth southern locality was added: a male of the species was caught by Gleb Kamalutdinov (to whom I express my gratitude for his collection) in the moun- tain-mass of East Manyi [Восточный Маный], situated by the midd- le flow of the Bolshoy Abakan [Большой Абакан] river (Tashtyb district, Krasnoyarsk region [Таштыбский район, Красноярский край] - 325 km SW from Abakan, 160 km SW from the previous si- te), that is at the joint of Altai and West Saian. Another point can be also added to the northern findings: a male of S.sahlbergi was collected by me on July 12, 1989 in Pen- insula Koni [Кони], Magadan region, Ola district [Магаданская область, Ольский район] (Ola section of preserve "Magadanskiy" [Ольский участок заповедника "Магаданский"]). The biology of the species was described by K.J.Valle (1931) for North Finland and by Haritonov (Харитонов, 1975) for Polar Ural. In Finland the species has been met in the vicinity of a sphagnum moor surrounded by fjell slopes covered with subarctic birch elfin wood, at the upper limit of the subarctic belt. Ima- gines were observed flying at wood margins and alongside brooks, whereas larvae were found in a big hollow in the moor, and also in tiny spring-fed pools situated at the edge of the moor. In the surroundings of Labytnangi (that are the lower reaches of the Ob river and adjacent regions of Polar Ural) lar- vae was found in small (8-20 m in diameter) but rather deep (not less than 0.5 m) semi-current reservoirs in flood-land forests, forest-tundra, and, if situated in relief depressions, in open tundra. The presence of moss or sedge was necessary for larvae to occur in a reservoir. Usually they prefer to keep to densely growing Comarum palustre L. In 1973 imagines were observed from June 14 to August 27. They were active only for windless weather and flew far away from reservoirs they reared from. In Kamchatka this scarce dragonflies appeared to develop in little (2-3 m) but deep and cold pools situated at the terraces of the Pauzhetka river, which are covered with alternating mea- dows, heath, siberian dwarf-pine (Pinus pumila (Pall.) Regel) elfin wood and stone birch (Betula ermani Cham.) groves.(A. Yu. Haritonov, personal communication). In Peninsula Koni S.sahlbergi was found in the environment much resembling the previously mentionned one. Although this mountainous peninsula is situated at 59 n.l., the influence of the Ochot sea makes the climate severe so that tundra goes down to the coast, and river valleys even at low altitudes exhibit forest-tundra landscapes. The only presenting forests are narrow belts of Chosenia arbutifolia (Pall.) A.Skvortz. and Populus suaveolens Fisch. alongside rivers, and small massives of Betula ermani at south exposed slopes. The majority of mountain slopes are covered with dwarf-pine (Pinus pumila) elfin wood, while thinned out bushes of dwarf-pine (being 4-5 m height there) and shrubby alder (Alnus fruticosa Rupr.), meadows (with a big share of tundra-specific species in the plant species compound) alternate in valley bottoms. It was such a bottom of the valley of the Burgauli [Бургаули] river , at altitude of 200 m above sea level and 10 km north from the Ochot coast, where a male of S. sahlbergi was found flying above a clearing, that was crossed by a slowly flowing brook about 1-2 m width. (This male had been frightened off this site, and then appeared again after several minutes, so there was apparently its individual territory.) Another individual, probably female, was observed (but not caught) flying just above the surface of the brook beneath bushes. As there was no stagnant reservoirs detected, this dragonflies develop probably in such brooks or in branches of the Burgauli.It should be noted that for a month of our work in the peninsula these was the only dragonflies met. It would be very interesting to know what kinds of environment this northern species inhabits in lower latitudes, however, this is a matter of further investigations, since the data obtained are too fragmentary. In Tunkin valley S. sahlbergi was found at the altitude of about 800 m above sea level, at semi-current reservoir in river-side spruce forest in an island of the Irkut [Иркут] river. In the Saians it was observed in the subalpine plainy top surfaces of mountains that are of the average altitude of about 1500 m in the surroundings of Abaza (I.N.Haritonova, personal communication), and in subalpine stone-pine (Pinus sibirica (Rupr.) Mayr) parkland at 1700 m in East Manyi. In East Altai the species was found in boggy mountain tundra at 2000 m. Thus, S. sahlbergi in the southern part of its areal tends to inhabit alpine regions environmentally resembling high latitudes, although it is not so in the case of Tunkin locality. It is not excluded that the considered species with such a vast areal could be diversified into some subspecies, however, the data are insufficient in this respect. In particular, S. s. relicta could hardly appear to be a real subspecies. I am happy to express my gratitude to Drs. A. Yu. Harito- nov and I.N.Haritonova for kindly supplying information concer- ning S. sahlbergi occurrence in Kamchatka and the Saians. REFERENCES Белышев Б.Ф. Новая форма стрекозы (Odonata) из Южной Сибири. // Новые и малоизвестные виды фауны Сибири. Вып. 4. - Новоси- бирск: Наука, - 1971 г. - с. 5-6 [ Belyshev B.F. New form of dragonfly (Odonata) from South Siberia. In: New and little- known species of Siberian fauna, issue 4. - Novosibirsk: Nau- ka, 1971, p. 5-6.] Белышев Б.Ф. Стрекозы Сибири (Odonata). Т.1, ч.2. - Новоси- бирск: Наука - 1973 г. - с. 372-377. [Belyshev B.F. The dra- gonflies of Siberia (Odonata). Vol. 1, part 2. - Novosibirsk: Nauka - 1973 - p. 372-377.] Белышев Б.Ф., Бессолицына Е.П., Костин Х.С. , Полякова П.Е. Новые даные по однатофауне (Insecta, Odonata) Северо-Восточной Азии. // Членистоногие Сибири. - Новосибирск: Наука, - 1978 г. - с. 39-45. [Belyshev B.F., Bessolitsina E.P., Kostin H. C., Polyakova P.E. New data on odonatofauna (Insecta, Odona- ta) of North-East Asia. In: Arthropods of Siberia. - Novosi- birsk: Nauka, 1978, p. 39-45.] Белышев Б.Ф., Коргунов Ю.П. Новые материалы к познанию одонато- фауны (Insecta, Odonata) Заполярной Сибири. //Фауна гельмин- тов и членистоногих Сибири. - Новосибирск, Наука: - 1970 г. - с. 151-156. [Belyshev B.F., Korshunov Yu. P. New material for the study of odonatofauna (Insecta, Odonata) of Transpolar Siberia. In: Fauna of helmintes and arthropods of Siberia. - Novosibirsk, Nauka, 1970, p. 151-156.] Белышев Б.Ф., Оводов Н. Somatochlora sahlbergi Trybom (Odonata, Insecta) в Южной Сибири. // Зоол. журн. - 1961 г. - т.40, - N 12, - с. 1892-1893. [Belyshev B.F., Ovodov N. Somatochlora sahlbergi Trybom (Odonata, Insecta) in South Siberia. Zool. Zhurn., 1961, 40, p. 1892-1893.] Белышев Б.Ф., Харитонов А.Ю. География стрекоз (Odonata) Боре- ального фаунистического царства. - Новосибирск, Наука, - 1981 г. - с. 232. [Belyshev B.F., Haritonov A.Yu. The geography of dragonflies (Odonata) of Boreal faunistic kingdom. - Novosi- birsk, Nauka, 1981, p. 232.] Костерин О.Е. К фауне стрекоз Горного Алтая. // Всесоюзная науч но-практическая конференция "Проблемы экологии горных регио- нов", 9-13 октября 1989 г. Тез. докл., Секция Одонатологии. - Душанбе - 1989 - с. 6-10. [Kosterin O.E. To dragonfly fauna of Mountain Altai. In: All-Union scientific-practical confe- rence `Problems of Ecology of Mountainous Regions', Oct. 9- 13, 1989. Odonatology Section, Dushanbe, 1989, p.6-10.] Харитонов А.Ю. К биологии малоизвестного вида стрекоз Somato- chlora sahlbergi Trybom (Odonata, Corduliidae) // Таксономия и экология животных Сибири (Новые и малоизвестные виды фауны Сибири. Вып. 9.) - Новосибирск: Наука - 1975 г. - с. 21-23. [Haritonov A. Yu. On the biology of little-known spe- cies of dragonflies Somatochlora sahlbergi Trybom (Odonata, Corduliidae). In: Taxonomy and ecology of animals of Siberia (New and little-known species of Siberian fauna, issue 9). - Novosibirsk: Nauka - 1975 - p. 21-23]. Харитонова И.Н. К фауне стрекоз (Insecta, Odonata) гор юга Сиби- ри.// Членистоногие и гельминты (Фауна Сибири). - Новоси- бирск: Наука, - 1990 г. - с. 43-47. [Haritonova I.N. To the fauna of dragonflies (Insecta, Odonata) of mountains of South Siberia. In: Arthropods and helmints (Fauna of Siberia), No- vosibirsk, Nauka, 1990, p. 43-47.] Valle, K.J. Materialen zur Odonatenfauna Finnlands. II Somato- chlora salbergi Trybom. 1931. Notulae Entomologiae XI 41-50. FIGURE LEGEND The map of sites where Somatochlora sahlbergi Trybom has been collected in Euroasia. 1 - Petsamfjord (Pechenga); 2 - Po- lar Ural, Labytnangi; 3 - Yamal, the Tanlovaya river; 4, 5 - the low Yenisey, Plakhino and Dudinka; 6 - Taymyr, Khatanga; 7 - the Kolyma, Verkhniy Seymchan; 8 - Magadan region, peninsula Ko- ni; 9 - Kamchatka, the Pauzhetka river; 10 - South Pribaykalye, Tunkin Valley; 11 - West Saian, Abaza; 12 - East Manyi; 13 - Al- tai, Kuraiskiy mountain range.Send me a message Back to the front page Back to the publication list Back to the dragonfly page