Mapping Turkish dragonflies

Preliminary atlas of the Turkish dragonflies (Odonata)

The distribution maps now on line are based on a data file containing a large amount of unpublished records as well as all published records. In total more than 5000 dots are present, each dot representing a records of a species within a 10x10 km-square. The maps are preliminarily and still contain numerous mistakes.

The diagrams give the flight-period of each species based on Turkish records. In the diagrams a record is defined as a species, at a certain date at a certain locality. So the diagrams are not influenced by the observed number of individuals. Sometimes records of larvae are included in the diagrams (e.g. an Anax immaculifrons larvae in March).

Damselflies Zygoptera Dragonflies Anisoptera

Mapping Turkish dragonflies (Odonata)

At the moment a number of people is working together to create a datafile from published and unpublished records of Odonata from Turkey (see table). This datafile will be used to compile a preliminary atlas of the Turkish Odonata. It will also enable us to study the seasonal ecology and the altitudinal distribution of the species. At a later stage, the contents of the file will be published, via our internet site, and perhaps in print as well. It is our intention to have the file accessible for anyone interested.

Table: records of Turkish Odonata
Each record represents the occurrence of a species at a single locality, regardless of the number of specimens.

Source	Number of records
Prior to Dumont 1977	350
Records published by Dumont 1977	550
Published since 1977 (incl. Demirsoy 1982)	1400
Unpublished records (^*1)	2000
Unpublished records collection Amsterdam	250
Unpublished records collection Leyden	100
Unpublished records collection London	170
Total records available	4820

^{*1 containing among
others records of Jurg Arlt, Pierre
Boudot, Frank Bos, R. Franke (collection
museum Goerlitz), Gilles Jacquemin,
collection Mathias Hartung, H. Henheik,
G. Ihssen, Vincent Kalkman, Jens
Kählert, Arjan Kop, Wolfgang Lopau,
Harm Niesen, H. Pelny, Gert Jan van
Pelt, Marcel Wasscher.

Preliminary
results

The maps
beneath do not contain all records
currently available but give a good
impression of our knowledge.

Distribution
of records

The map
beneath gives the distribution of all
the records presently available in our
datafile .
Poorly investigated areas are the
mountainous area between Sivas and
Erzurum and the central plateau south of
Ankara. The latter area is provides few
interesting habitats and is therefore
neglected by odonatologists. The eastern
fifth of Turkey is likely to yield the
most new additions for the Turkish
fauna.

Turkey as
‘melting pot’ of biogeographical
regions

In Turkey
species of Afrotropical, Oriental and
the Palaeartic faunas are to be found.
The latter dominates the fauna. Species
of an Afrotropical or Oriental origin
are predominantly confined to the
Mediterranean coast of southern Turkey.
Some of these species extend as far west
as the Greek Isles.
Examples
of an Oriental (Orthetrum sabina)
species, which is largely confined to
the Mediterranean coast of Turkey.

The
Palaeartic fauna in the North

For
European odonatologists the southern
part of Turkey has the most interesting
fauna; as a consequence, this part has
been visited most. A great number of yet
unpublished data show that the
odonatofauna of the North of the country
is rather similar to that of Central
Europe. For instance, Lestes sponsa
and Aeshna cyanea (both common in
Central Europe) have been recorded from
quite a number of localities, and
locally found to be common. This might
also go for species known from only a
few localities, e.g., Pyrrhosoma
nymphula, Cordulia aenea, and
Leucorrhinia pectoralis.
Distribution
of Lestes sponsa (circles) and Aeshna
cyanea (squares) in Turkey.
Knowledge
versus ignorance

At
present, the known localities of Libellula
pontica and Sympetrum haritonovi
show us that our knowledge on the
distribution of these species is quite
insufficient. L. pontica was
considered to be confined to eastern
Turkey. In 1999, van Pelt found the
species in the province of Sakarya, only
150 km south east from Istanbul. Most
records of Sympetrum haritonovi
are from Central Asia, but the species
has not been recorded from Iran. In
Turkey, the species has now been found
at three localities. The high altitude
(>1800 m asl) at which the species
has been found suggest that the species
is confined to mountainous areas and
therefore under recorded. In our view,
the present known distribution of these
species is merely a result of our lack
of knowledge, showing the necessity of
more fieldwork.

Gomphus
schneideri is another species of which
the distributional range is ill known.
The species is known from Iran and
therefore it is likely that it is
widespread in the eastern parts of
Turkey as well. But so far no records Gomphus
schneideri have been published from
the eastern part of Turkey.
All records currently
available

Orthetrum
sabina

Lestes
sponsa
(circles) and Aeshna cyanea
(squares)

Gomphus
schneideri}