Calopteryx virgo (Linnaeus, 1758)

Bazzi, Gaia, Galimberti, Andrea, Foglini, Claudio, Bani, Luciano, Bazzi, Lionello, Bonvicini, Piero, Brembilla, Roberto, Brigo, Massimo, Cavenaghi, Alberto, Colombo, Giuseppe, Della Pieta, Cesare, Galliani, Carlo, Guarnaroli, Ettore, Larroux, Nicola, Monti, Alessandro, Orioli, Valerio, Ornaghi, Francesco, Pilon, Nicola, Pirotta, Giuliana, Radaelli, Giovanni, Tessa, Giulia & Assandri, Giacomo, 2023, Odonate diversity of a highly urbanised region: An annotated checklist of the damselflies and dragonflies (Insecta, Odonata) of Lario and Brianza (Lombardy, N Italy), Biodiversity Data Journal 11, pp. 111358-111358 : 111358

Calopteryx virgo (Linnaeus, 1758)

Native status

R

Conservation status

erl: LC; irl: LC

Notes

Flight period: I May - II November

Compared with the congeneric C. splendens , this species is more frequent at the foothills and the lower mountain slopes, up to ca. 900 m a.s.l., whereas it is scarce in the lowlands. This is explained by its stricter ecological requirements, as it reproduces in small, well-oxygenated and fresh lotic habitats rich in aquatic vegetation and with a structured riparian belt, often in wooded contexts. Being more stenotopic, C. virgo could be more susceptible to anthropogenic environmental alterations. For this reason, the Province of Monza and Brianza, which is predominantly flat and largely urbanised, is nowadays only marginally affected by its presence. A record of two individuals on 18.11.2021 at Lake Alserio (P. Bonvicini, obs.) should be considered as remarkably late for the species.