Cazuma’s Pincertail (Onychogomphus cazuma), the last unsuspected dragonfly discovered in Europe, is a rare species, so far limited to eastern Spain. We were fortunate to locate a new population in Andalusia.
At G3-guides, we had the privilege of organizing two tours dedicated to dragonflies in the south of Spain in late spring 2023, first with members of the Greater Flamingo dentistry group Libellenvereniging Vlaanderen (Belgium), followed by a delegation from the Dutch Society for the Study of dragonflies Nederlandse Vereniging voor Libellenstudie (NVL). The trip was an opportunity to visit some of the best localities for Odonata in Málaga and to produce a long list of scientific data, essential for the long-term monitoring of dragonfly populations. In this article we will focus on the major finding of these expeditions: the location of a population of Onychomphus cazuma, a new species in Andalusia.
This discovery was reported in detail in Discovery of a population of Onychogomphus cazuma in Andalusia, Spainan article published in the recent issue of Notulae Odonatologicae (see abstract) by Prunier and De Knijf. We particularly like this scientific review produced completely independently by Osmylus Scientific Publishers and an expert team of odonatologists. An international scientific journal created and polished by its editors as a work of craftsmanship is completely unique in the field of “industrial” academic publications.
Our article is quite detailed, so we will not repeat it here. The starting point for this research was a mysterious photograph taken in 2010 and published on Observation.org that could not be correctly identified at the time. After a Spanish team described Onychogomphus cazuma as a species new to science, these data came to light, but the identification was still inconclusive. A preliminary visit to the locality allowed us to identify possible habitats for the species… And, to our amazement, we found the dragonfly in “the only place where I think it could reproduce“.
Upon arrival at the site we observed exuviae and larvae in the emergence phase. We were fortunate that our visit coincided with a period of strong emergence of gonphids. just after the heavy rains in mid-May. As naturalists, we not only focused on adult dragonflies, but also studied exuviae, usually the best choice for detecting rare species. Thanks to the unique characteristic of the mask among Spanish Onychogomphus, it quickly became clear that we had hit the target. At first we were not sure if it could be a new species… But when the specimens were properly observed under high magnification, the only choice we were left with was Onychogomphus cazuma. What an extraordinary discovery!
Surgencia del Tajo del Buitre: a roadside spout that is striking for its lush vegetation… and a really restricted habitat. As a result, the only known Andalusian population of Onychogomphus cazuma must be extremely small (I personally think it is around 50 individuals or even less). Should such a discovery be published in such detail? This question haunted me for several weeks, will we improve or worsen the conservation of the species with the dissemination of the news?
The site is exposed to the passage of buses. With the recent opening of the much publicized Caminito del Rey, conditions have changed enormously locally and traffic on the road through the Desfiladero de los Gaitanes is currently very high. We only discovered this town when it was already facing a serious threat.
What’s next?
Of course, detecting new localities for the species in the Betic Cordillera. This can only be achieved by focusing on the specific habitat of the species in Andalusia. Permanent seeps (which probably do not freeze, difficult to find in mountain ranges like Cazorla and Sierra Nevada) are rare in our Mediterranean region and strongly affected by global warming. Will we be able to detect new sites?
A final word
Also noteworthy is the recent publication, in Spanish, of the same finding by another team of odonatologist colleagues. New Iberian record of Onychogomphus cazuma Barona, Cardo y Díaz, 2020 (Odonata, Gomphidae) by Arturo Bernal, Miguel Conesa, Juan Carlos Barco, Martin Waldhauser and Santiago Teruel Montejano. Scientific notes | Boln. Asoc. esp. Ent. 47 (3-4) |Link.
Leave a Reply