Cephalonia (also spelled Kefalonia, Kefallinia or Kephallenia) is a medium-large island (773 km²) belonging to the Ionian Archipelago in western Greece. Occurrence records of dragonflies in the island are known from the general works of Lopau (2006, 2010), Boudot et al. (2009), and Maroulis & Xanthakis (2015). The only dedicated paper about the odonatofauna of Cephalonia is by Manger (2013). The present work summarizes the faunistic data from the island, giving an updated checklist of these insects, including new records.

The examined material originates from occasional samplings (specimens photographed and, in one case, collected) conducted in 2018. All the listed material was identified by the authors.

Nomenclature and taxonomy follow Schorr & Paulson (2019). General distribution is indicated according to Boudot et al. (2009).

For each site, the following information is given: locality, coordinates, elevation, date, photographer or collectors, number of specimens and sex, possible repository. Geographical coordinates are in decimal degrees (datum WGS84). The uncertainty of data (in metres) was indicated according to the point-radius method (Wieczorek et al., 2004).

ZYGOPTERA

Platycnemididae

Platycnemis pennipes (Pallas, 1771)

Material examined: Katelios, 38.07959°N, 20.75462°E (uncertainty = 10 m), 55 m a.s.l., 1 ♂, photo by F. Graziani.

General distribution. Widespread in Europe, common in the Mediterranean area.

Coenagrionidae

Enallagma cyathigerum (Charpentier, 1840)

Material examined: Tzanata, near unnamed east lake, 38.13299°N 20.75431°E (uncertainty = 50 m), 65 m a.s.l., 23.VII.2018, 1 ♀, photo by F. Graziani.

General distribution. Common and widespread species in large parts of Europe.

Erythromma viridulum (Charpentier, 1840)

Material examined: Tzanata, near unnamed east lake, 38.13299°N 20.75431°E (uncertainty = 50 m), 65 m a.s.l., 23.VII.2018, 1 ♂ (Fig. 1), photo by F. Graziani.

General distribution. Common and -widespread species in large parts of Europe and the Mediterranean.

Remarks. First record for Cephalonia.

Ischnura elegans (Vander Linden, 1820)

Material examined: Limni Avithos, 38.17147°N, 20.71112°E (uncertainty = 50 m), 290 m a.s.l., 26.VII.2018, 1 ♂, photo by F. Graziani.

General distribution. Widespread in Europe.

ANISOPTERA

Aeshnidae

Anax imperator (Leach, 1815)

Material examined: Tzanata, near unnamed east lake, 38.13299°N 20.75431°E (uncertainty = 50 m), 65 m a.s.l., 23.VII.2018, 1 ♂, photo by F. Graziani.

General distribution. Common and widespread in Europe, western Asia and parts of Africa.

Gomphidae

Onychogomphus forcipatus (Linnaeus, 1758)

Material examined: Limni Avithos, 38.17147°N, 20.71112°E (uncertainty = 50 m), 290 m a.s.l., 26.VII.2018, 1 ♂, photo by F. Graziani.

General distribution. The species occurs in North Africa, continental Europe and southwest Asia.

Libellulidae

Crocothemis erythraea (Brullé, 1832)

Material examined: Tzanata, near unnamed east lake, 38.13299°N 20.75431°E (uncertainty = 50 m), 65 m a.s.l., 1 ♂, photo by F. Graziani.

General distribution. Afrotropical species whose range has recently expanded and is now widespread in Europe and in the Mediterranean basin.

Ortethrum brunneum (Fonscolombe, 1837)

Material examined: Tzanata, near unnamed east lake, 38.13299°N 20.75431°E (uncertainty = 50 m), 65 m a.s.l., 23.VII.2018, 1 ♀, photo by F. Graziani.

General distribution. Common and widespread species in large parts of Europe and the Mediterranean.

Ortethrum cancellatum (Linnaeus, 1758)

Material examined: Tzanata, near unnamed west lake, 38.13602°N 20.75075°E (uncertainty = 120 m), 65 m a.s.l., 23.VII.2018, 1 ♀, F. Cianferoni, F. Ceccolini, F. Graziani leg., Collection F. Ceccolini (Rassina, Arezzo, Italy).

General distribution. Common and widespread species in large parts of Europe and the Mediterranean.

Ortethrum coerulescens (Fabricius, 1798)

Material examined: Limni Avithos, 38.17147°N, 20.71112°E (uncertainty = 50 m), 290 m a.s.l., 26.VII.2018, 1 ♂, photo by F. Graziani.

General distribution. Common and widespread species in large parts of Europe and the Mediterranean.

Selysiothemis nigra (Vander Linden, 1825)

Material examined: Tzanata, near unnamed east lake, 38.13299°N 20.75431°E (uncertainty = 50 m), 65 m a.s.l., 23.VII.2018, 2 ♀♀ (Fig. 2), photos by F. Graziani.

General distribution. Distributed in the western Mediterranean (including Maghreb), with northernmost record in north east Italy. The species distribution areal is currently expanding (Uboni et al., 2015).

Remarks. First record for Cephalonia.

Sympetrum fonscolombii (Sélys, 1840)

Material examined: Tzanata, near unnamed east lake, 38.13299°N 20.75431°E (uncertainty = 50 m), 65 m a.s.l., 23.VII.2018, 1 ♀, photo by F. Graziani.

General distribution. Common in southern Europe. In Europe it has strongly expanded its range to the north.

Trithemis annulata (Palisot de Beauvois, 1807)

Material examined: Tzanata, near unnamed west lake, 38.13602°N 20.75075°E (uncertainty = 120 m), 65 m a.s.l., 23.VII.2018, 1 ♂ 1 ♀, photos by F. Graziani.

General distribution. Widespread and common Afrotropical species that has expanded its range in southwestern Europe rapidly in recent decades.

Based on Lopau (2006, 2010), Boudot et al. (2009), Manger (2013), Maroulis & Xanthakis (2015), and the present work.

ZYGOPTERA

ANISOPTERA

To date 25 species of Odonata have been recorded for Cephalonia (see checklist), two of which resulted as new for the island from our records: Selysiothemis nigra (Vander Linden, 1825), which was previously found in the nearby island of Corfu (Sutton, 2009), and Erythromma viridulum (Charpentier, 1840).

These two species were both photographed on the shore of an artificial lake in the southeastern part of the island, near the village of Tzanata, with rocky bottom and little vegetation on the shores (Fig. 3).

Selysiothemis nigra (Fig. 2) is a nomadic and migrant species, which breeds in both permanent and ephemeral fresh or brackish water bodies (Dow, 2013). The species distribution range is currently expanding, and recent evidence suggests that the increase of artificial water basins (like the Tzanata lake where we found the adult specimens on the shore) could be a positive factor for the species increase in Europe (Uboni et al., 2015). The species conservation status is classified as Least Concern (LC) according to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (Dow, 2013).

Erythromma viridulum (Fig. 1) occurs in both flowing and brackish water (Boudot, 2014) and it is common and widespread in Europe, where it has been expanding northwest since the 80-90s, event probably favored by global warming (see Groppali, 2009). The species conservation status is classified as LC according to the IUCN Red List (Boudot, 2014).