List of Spanish Dragonflies and Damselflies (Odonata)
including the Canary Islands
by John Muddeman, Mike Lockwood and Teresa Farino
Updated March 2007

Red-veined Darter female
Sympetrum fonscolombii © John Muddeman

The list has been compiled principally using data from the CSIC (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas) and also that in Scriptus Naturae by F. Ocharan Larrondo ^C concerning species present in peninsular Spain, and that for the Canary Islands in Ashmole & Ashmole (1989). Some additional information comes from Baixeras (2006). The list for Portugal and Macaronesia comes from a recent paper in the Journal of Odonatology (Ferreira et al. 2006; with thanks to Florian Weihrauch), which has also influenced the status of some species reported for Spain.

Taxonomy and nomenclature

Nomenclature and systematic treatment follows that of the most comprehensive, readily available and up to date treatment of the group in English (Dijkstra & Lewington 2006), though we have placed Ceriagrion before Coenagrion in the systematic list. This updates the earlier treatment given by Askew (2004), itself updated with more recent changes in systematic treatment regarding a few species noted by Mill et al. (2004) ^B and Ocharan Larrondo. Given these mainly minor discrepancies between lists (e.g. C. xanthostoma, A. isosceles, C. boltonii), alternative scientific names are noted (and sourced) where significantly different.

Delicate Skimmer
Diplacodes lefebvrei © John Muddeman

English vernacular names are those in Dijkstra & Lewington (2006) which are not only markedly different from those in Mill et al. (2004), but also provide vernacular names for the first time of many species in the region. Given the large number of differences due to the attempt at standardising the newly proposed names, we also provide the 'old' names (where available) of Mill et al. (2004) in the numbered footnotes, plus using those in d'Aguilar et al. (1986) ^A for those species where no name was provided. There appears to be no list of vernacular names in Spanish or Portuguese available at present.

Distribution

Violet-marked Darter
Trithemis annulata © John Muddeman

There are currently 77 species (27 damselflies; 50 dragonflies; 35 genera) of Odonata recorded in mainland Spain (including the Balearic Islands), with 63 species cited from mainland Portugal (23 damselflies; 40 dragonflies; 29 genera). In the Canary Islands there are just 10 species (1 damselfly; 9 dragonflies; 7 genera), of which the damselfly and two dragonfly species do not occur in the rest of Spain. Of special note is Sympetrum (striolatum) nigrifemur: a Macaronesian endemic shared with Madeira. On Madeira there are 4 species (2 damselflies; 2 dragonflies; 3 genera) including a damselfly of Nearctic origin found nowhere else in the Western Palearctic. On the Azores 6 species are known (1 damselfly; 5 dragonflies; 3 genera). This gives a total of 80 confirmed species in 35 genera in Spain, 65 species in 29 genera in Portugal and 81 species in 35 genera overall.

Saharan Blue-tailed Damselfly
Ischnura saharensis © John Muddeman

Given that it is extremely difficult to get accurate, up-to-date information on the distribution of the majority of the species in Spain, readers are referred to Dijkstra & Lewington (2006) for maps of approximate distribution. However, it should be taken into account that a number of species with a formerly very southerly distribution are expanding their ranges northwards. This is the case, for example, of Brachythemis leucosticta which has recently been recorded from central Valencia and the lakes of La Mancha, and Trithemis annulata, cited from the Asturian coast, while in contrast Coenagrion puella is expanding southwards in north-eastern Spain. Within the table, links are provided to maps and other information of this nature for a few of the species.

Please feel free to contact us to comment on the list, as our aim is to provide more detailed information in the future.

List

Reference numbers within the table refer to the footnotes.
In the column referring to distribution, MS = mainland Spain, BI = Balearic Islands, CI = Canary Islands,
MP = mainland Portugal, Ma = Madeira, A = Azores

Note: Green Snaketail (Ophiogomphus cecilia) is not included in the list since there are apparently no confirmed records in Spain of the species and the records from Portugal have been revised and the species is no longer considered to have been present (Ferreira et al. 2006). Spotted Darter (Sympetrum depressiusculum) is also not included following Ferreira et al. (2006).

Footnotes

Bibliography

Ashmole, M. & Ashmole, P. (1989). Natural History Excursions in Tenerife. Kiston Mill Press, Peebles, Scotland.

Askew, R. (2004). The Dragonflies of Europe. 2nd Ed. Harley Books, Colchester.

d'Aguilar, J., Dommanget, J.-L. & Préchac, R. (1986). A Field Guide to the Dragonflies of Europe and North Africa. English Edition, Collins.

Baixeras, J. (Ed.) (2006). Les libèl·lules de la Comunitat Valenciana. Conselleria de Territori y Habitatge, Generalitat Valenciana.

^D Dantart, J. & Martín, R. (1999). Somatochlora metallica (Van der Linden, 1825) (Odonata: Corduliidae) y Leucorrhinia pectoralis (Charpentier, 1825) (Odonata: Libellulidae), dos nuevas especies para la Península Ibérica. Boletín Asociación española de Entomología, 23 (1-2): 147.

Dijkstra, K-D. B. & Lewington, R. (2006). Field Guide to the Dragonflies of Britain and Europe. British Wildlife Publishing, Milton on Stour, Dorset, UK.

Mill, P., Taylor, P. & Parr, A. (2004). Vernacular Names for British and European Dragonflies. Atropos 23: 33-35.

Photos and further ID information can also be found on a number of excellent websites:
Libellules d'Europe & du Paléarctique Ouest (in French; W Palearctic)
Odonata (in Spanish; mainland Spain)
Oxygastra (in English / Catalan; Catalonia)

In addition, information (in Spanish) for taxa considered threatened within Spain can be found on the Ministerio de Medio Ambiente website.