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Sympetrum dilatatum

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Taxonomy [top]

Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family
ANIMALIA ARTHROPODA INSECTA ODONATA LIBELLULIDAE

Scientific Name: Sympetrum dilatatum
Species Authority: (Calvert, 1892)
Common Name/s:
English St. Helena Darter

Assessment Information [top]

Red List Category & Criteria: Data Deficient     ver 3.1
Year Published: 2011
Assessor/s: Suhling, F. & Martens, A.
Reviewer/s: Clausnitzer, V. & Samways, M.J.
Justification:
The St. Helena Darter is endemic to St. Helena Island. There are very few published records. The type series (four males, one female) was collected during the U.S. Solar Eclipse expedition between 20th February and 10th March 1889-1890 (Calvert 1892, 1894; Ris 1911, Stearns 1894). The last known record, a female, was collected at Green Hill in October 1963 (Pinhey 1964). Because there were no records since then the species was assessed as Extinct. However, there was never a systematic survey for the species not before and particularly not since the last record. We are also not aware of any entomological survey, which may have paid attention to the species. Thus, although the likelihood is high that the species is now Extinct we are unable to exclude that populations still remain. Because of the insufficient surveying during the last 50 years, the current recommendation is Data Deficient rather than Critically Endangered (possibly extinct)..
History:
1996 Extinct
1994 Extinct? (Groombridge 1994)
1990 Extinct? (IUCN 1990)
1988 Extinct? (IUCN Conservation Monitoring Centre 1988)
1986 Extinct? (IUCN Conservation Monitoring Centre 1986)

Geographic Range [top]

Range Description: This species is known only from St. Helena Island.
Countries:
Native:
Saint Helena (Saint Helena (main island))
Range Map: Click here to open the map viewer and explore range.

Population [top]

Population: No information is available on current population size or trends for this species. It was last recorded in 1963, however no surveys have been carried out to find the species since then.
Population Trend: Unknown

Habitat and Ecology [top]

Habitat and Ecology: No information is available on specific habitats for this species.
Systems: Terrestrial; Freshwater

Threats [top]

Major Threat(s): Specific threats are unknown, however habitat destruction is the most likely threat to this species. The island has undergone severe habitat change, with the indigenous vegetation (e.g., tree ferns) being destroyed after colonisation in the late 16th century.

Conservation Actions [top]

Conservation Actions: Before conservation actions can be formulated surveys are needed, to check, whether the species is still present, what the habitat requirements are and what the habitat status is.

Bibliography [top]

Baillie, J. and Groombridge, B. 1996. 1996 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals. International Union for Conservation of Nature, Gland, Switzerland.

Calvert, P.P. 1892. Prelimiray notes on some African Odonata. Transactions of the American Entomological Society 19: 161-164.

Calvert, P.P. 1894. Order Pseudoneuroptera. (pp. 582-586) In: Riley, C.V. Scientific results of the U.S. Eclipse expedition to West Africa, 1889-’90. Report upon the Insecta, Arachnida, and Myriopoda. Proceedings of the United States National Museum 16: 565-590.

Groombridge, B. (ed.) 1994. 1994 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland.

IUCN. 1990. 1990 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals. Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK.

IUCN. 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (ver. 2011.1). Available at: http://www.iucnredlist.org. (Accessed: 16 June 2011).

Pinhey, E.C.G. 1964. The St. Helena dragonfly (Odonata, Libellulidae). Arnoldia 1(2): 1-3.

Ris, F. 1911. Libellulinen monographisch bearbeitet. Libellulinen 5. Collections Zoologiques Baron Edmond Selys Longchamps 13: 529-700.

Stearns, R.E.C. 1894. Preliminary report on the molluscan species collected by the United States scientific expedition to West Africa in 1889-’90. Proceedings of the United States National Museum 16: 317-339.

Citation: Suhling, F. & Martens, A. 2011. Sympetrum dilatatum. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 25 May 2012.
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