Ecologica Montenegrina, 34, 2020, 49-63 Dragonflies from hot springs in Russia with a country-level checklist of species known to occur in geothermal environments OLGA V. AKSENOVA, GRIGORY S. POTAPOV * , YULIA V. BESPALAYA, YULIA S. KOLOSOVA, ILYA V. VIKHREV, ALEXANDER V. KONDAKOV, MIKHAIL YU. GOFAROV & IVAN N. BOLOTOV N. Laverov Federal Center for Integrated Arctic Research of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Northern Dvina Emb. 23, 163000, Arkhangelsk, Russia *Corresponding author: grigorij-potapov@yandex.ru Received 28 August 2020 │ Accepted by V. Pešić: 12 September 2020 │ Published online 15 September 2020. Abstract Geothermal springs are known to harbor unusual assemblages of dragonflies and damselflies worldwide. A review of original records and the body of available literature revealed that 27 Odonata species were recorded from hot springs in Russia so far and that the successful larval development in geothermal environments was discovered for 17 species. Among them, four species exclusively inhabit hot springs, i.e. Mnais costalis, Anotogaster sieboldii, Orthetrum melania (Kunashir Island), and O. albistylum (Eastern Siberia). In Russia, these southern species are unable to develop beyond geothermally heated water bodies due to cold climate, and they exist as local geothermal populations there. Here, we report on several novel records of Odonata species from geothermal springs in eastern Russia. Four species were recorded on the Kunashir Island (Kurile Archipelago): Mnais costalis (adults), Anotogaster sieboldii (adults and larvae), Orthetrum melania (adults), and Sympetrum pedemontanum elatum (adults and larvae). Two species were found in the Kamchatka Peninsula, i.e. Libellula quadrimaculata (freshly emerged imago and exuvia) and Aeshna juncea (larvae). To explain the origin of isolated geothermal populations of Odonata, three alternative hypotheses can be proposed as follows: (1) pre-glacial relicts; (2) mid-Holocene relicts (since the Holocene Climate Optimum); and (3) recent (late Holocene) populations founded by long-distance dispersal events. These scenarios are yet to be tested by means of a molecular approach. Key words: Odonata, Eastern Siberia, Russian Far East, Kurile Archipelago, geothermal habitat, extreme environment, larval development, isolated population. Introduction Hot springs house distinctive animal communities because of stable temperature regime and high concentration of dissolved solids compared with those in non-geothermal habitats (Corbet 2004; O’Gorman et al. 2012). Geothermal sites in cold high-latitude and high-altitude areas could serve as local refugia for thermophilic animals and plants (Pleshanov et al. 2002; Kornobis et al. 2010; Bolotov et al. 2012). In temperate areas and high mountain ranges, various southern species of dragonflies and damselflies are Ecologica Montenegrina 34: 49-63 (2020) This journal is available online at: www.biotaxa.org/em http://dx.doi.org/10.37828/em.2020.34.6