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Investigations on the dragonflies (Insecta: Odonata) occurring in Mureş Floodplain Natural Park

MANCI Cosmin-Ovidiu 13 Acad. Remus RăduleŃ street, bl. 119, ap. 7, RO-300281 Timişoara, Romania e-mail: cosminovidiu@yahoo.com

BSTRACT. In 2004 and 2005 the distribution of dragonflies in the Mureş Floodplain Natural Park was mapped. A total of 36 species of damselflies and dragonflies was found within this natural park. For each species a map is presented based on 2x2 km UTM-squares. The occurrence of Coenagrion ornatum, Ophiogomphus cecilia and Gomphus flavipes is very important as these species are mentioned in the Habitat Directive 92/43/EEC, for

teh conservation of these species being necessary the designation of Special Areas of Conservation (SAC). Key words: Odonata, Coenagrion ornatum, Ophiogomphus cecilia, Gomphus flavipes, Parcul Natural Lunca Mureşului,

Natura 2000 network, Romania INTRODUCTION In 2004 and 2005 the distribution of the dragonflies within the Mureş Floodplain Natural Park was mapped. In total 36 species were found. Fourteen of these belong to the damselflies (suborder Zygoptera) and 22 to the true dragonflies (suborder Anisoptera). All data presented in this article are new and no records of the area have been published to date. The Mureş Floodplain has been declared a Natural Park in 2004 (Governmental Decision no. 2151/2004) and has a surface of 17.166 ha. The main purpose of this park is the landscape preservation. Within the area lie four natural reserves: Cenad Forest, Big Isle of Cenad, Igriş Isles and Prundul Mare. The variety of ecosystems is high with a mixture of meadows and almost closed woodland situated along Mureş River between the city Arad and the Hungarian border. The forest is intermixed with clearings, pastures, some permanent marshes and lakes and some arable land. A large part of the area is flooded almost each spring. Fig. 1. Map of the investigated area, on the map are figured: park limits, Mureşiver, all localities, location of reserve, forested area, where in Romania also the UTM sqare of 2x2 km (orig.) MATERIAL AND METHOD The records presented in this paper have been collected largely in 2004 (30.08-5.09.2004; 30.09-2.10.2004) and 2005 (1.04-03.04.2005; 24.05.2005; 27.06-3.07.2005; 4.08.2005). During the fieldwork adults were collected only when necessary for the identification and most records are based on field observations. Most observation was made in wet area but relative dry areas were also visited. It is hoped that in the future a larger part of the park can be explored. Adult have been collected with an entomological net and observation was made sometime with the help of a binoculars (Praktica 10x25) and a monocular (Kenko Tele 6x25). Photographs were made with a Nikon Coolpix 995 and a Canon EOS 1D. Coordinates were taken in the field with the use of a handheld GPS. To represent species distribution we have made a series of map using the UTM grid with square of 2x2 km. RESULTS Table 1 shows the list of all species found in the investigated area. Besides maps for all species are given. All the maps are original (drawn by the author).

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Table 1.

Species of dragonflies recorded in 2004 and 2005 in the Mureş Floodplain Natural Park Suborder Zygoptera

Family Calopterygidae Calopteryx splendens (Harris, 1782) Lestes viridis (Vander Linden, 1825) Lestes barbarus (Fabricius, 1798) Lestes virens (Charpentier, 1825) Lestes sponsa (Hansemann, 1823) Lestes dryas Kirby, 1890

Family Lestidae

Sympecma fusca (Vander Linden, 1820) Family Platycnemididae Platycnemis pennipes (Pallas, 1771)

Erythromma viridulum (Charpentier, 1840) Coenagrion ornatum (Sélys, 1850) Coenagrion puella (Linnaeus, 1758) Coenagrion pulchellum (Vander Linden, 1825) Ischnura pumilio (Charpentier, 1825)

Family Coenagrionidae

Ischnura elegans (Vander Linden, 1820) Suborder Anisoptera

Aeshna mixta Latreille, 1805 Aeshna affinis Vander Linden, 1823 Aeshna isosceles (Müller, 1767) Anax imperator Leach, 1815

Family Aeshnidae

Brachytron pratense (Müller, 1764) Gomphus flavipes (Charpentier, 1825) Gomphus vulgatissimus (Linnaeus, 1758)

Family Gomphidae

Ophiogomphus cecilia (Fourcroy, 1785) Cordulia aenea (Linnaeus, 1758) Family Corduliidae Somatochlora meridionalis Nielsen, 1935 Libellula fulva Müller, 1764 Libellula depressa Linnaeus, 1758 Orthetrum cancellatum (Linnaeus, 1758) Orthetrum albistylum (Sélys, 1848) Orthetrum brunneum (Fonscolombe, 1837) Orthetrum coerulescens (Fabricius, 1798) Crocothemis erythraea (Brullé, 1832) Sympetrum striolatum (Charpentier, 1840) Sympetrum vulgatum (Linnaeus, 1758) Sympetrum meridionale (Sélys, 1841) Sympetrum sanguineum (Müller, 1764)

Family Libellulidae

Sympetrum depressiusculum (Sélys, 1841) DISCUSSION The identification of two species is still in process, due to the fact that proper information from bibliographical references on their characters was not available during the fieldwork. These two species have both a sibling species that occur in the southern part of the Balkan peninsula and might occur in Romania. These species are Lestes viridis / Lestes parvidens and Somatochlora metallica / Somatochlora meridionalis. More records on these species are needed in order to clarify their distribution in Romania. CONCLUSIONS So far 36 species are known from the Mureş Floodplain Natural Park but it is likely that more species are present. It is also likely that some of the species found have a larger area of distribution in the reserve. For this reason more fieldwork is needed. Also in future we hope to add some studies about the abundance of species, maybe will be best a comparative study in different years. Three of the species found Coenagrion ornatum, Ophiogomphus cecilia and Gomphus flavipes are present on the habitat directive of the EU and these species deserve special attention. The Mureş Floodplain Natural Park has a rich dragonfly fauna and offers protection to many species.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I want to express my thanks to all administration of Mureş Floodplain Natural Park and especially to ing. Ovidiu Pîrv and biol. Mihai Pascu who made this study to be possible through financing all the fieldwork and also with help offered in the field. Also my thanks to Vincent Kalkman (Nederland) who revised my work. REZUMAT În 2004 şi 2005 a fost cartografiată distribuŃia libelulelor în Parcul Natural Lunca Mureşului. Un total de 36 de specii de libelule au fost găsite pe teritoriul parcului. Pentru fiecare specie este prezentată harata răspândirii realizată în sistem UTM cu pătrate de 2x2 km. PrezenŃa în parc a speciilor Coenagrion ornatum, Ophiogomphus cecilia şi Gomphus flavipes este foarte importantă deoarece acestea sunt menŃionate in directive habitate a UE (directive 92/43/EEC), pentru aceste specii fiind necesare yone speciale de protecŃie. REFERENCES 1. ASKEW (R. R.), 2004 – The Dragonbflies of Europe (second edition). Harley Books, Essex 2. CÎRDEI (F.), BULIMAR (F.), 1965 – Ord. Odonata, Fauna R.P.R.. vol. VII, fasc. 5. Ed. Acad. R.P.R.,

Bucureşti 3. LEHRER (A. Z.), BULIMAR (F.), 1979 – Sinteze cartografice ale patrimoniului natural al României. II.

Ordinul Odonata Fabricius, 1792. Nymphaea. vol. VII, pp. 343 – 393. Oradea. 4. LEHRER (A. Z.), LEHRER (M. M.), 1990 – Cartografierea faunei şi florei României (coordonate

arealografice). Edit. Ceres, Bucureşti 5. MANCI (C. O.), 2004 – Studiu preliminar asupra distribuŃiei libelulelor (Insecta: Odonata) în Pădurea

Verde (Timişoara) şi zona imediat apropiată. IN: Buletinul informativ al SocietăŃii Lepidopterologice Române, vol. 14-15., pp. 336 – 342. Cluj Napoca.

6. MANCI (C. O.), 2005 – Preliminary study on the dragonfly (Insecta: Odonata) fauna from the Vânători NeamŃ Natural Park. In Studies and research in Vânători NeamŃ Natural Park, vol. 1 (edit. R. Deju & S. Cătănoiu), pp. 28 – 35.

7. MARINOV (M.), 2000 – Pocket field guide to the dragonflies of Bulgaria. Eventus Publishing House, Sofia. (in Bulgarian)

Manuscript received: January 25th, 2006 Manuscript accepted: August 31st , 2006

Printed: September 2006

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Map of the investigated area.

(The map shows: the UTM sqare of 2x2 km, the park limits, Mureş river, all localities, location and limits of the Mureş Floodplain Natural Park)

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