Natural History Sciences. Atti Soc. it. Sci. nat. Museo civ. Stor. nat. Milano, 8 (2): 79-82, 2021 DOI: 10.4081/nhs.2021.533 Short communication Somatochlora arctica (Odonata: Corduliidae) oviposing at a “lower than usual” altitude for Italy and the Mediterranean Region and frst observation for the Varese Province (Northern Italy) Stefano Aguzzi 1,2 *, Valerio Orioli 1,3 1 Società Italiana per lo Studio e la Conservazione delle Libellule ODV, c/o Università degli Studi di Perugia, Via Elce di Sotto 8, 06123 Perugia, Italia. 2 Fondazione Lombardia per l’Ambiente, Largo 10 Luglio 1976 1, 20822 Seveso (MB), Italia. 3 Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Milano-Bicocca, Piazza dell’Ateneo Nuovo 1, 20126 Milano, Italia. * Corresponding author: stefano.aguzzi@gmail.com © 2021 Stefano Aguzzi, Valerio Orioli Received for publication: 13 April 2021 Accepted for publication: 9 September 2021 Online publication: 29 October 2021 Abstract - Somatochlora arctica is an endangered dragonfy with populations characterized by low density and scattered distribu- tion. The presence of the species in the Varese Province, recorded during the specifc monitoring operations for Nehalennia speciosa, is reported for the frst time. The observation of an oviposing female was carried out in a peat bog placed at 550 m a.s.l., the lowest altitude for the species in Italy and one of the most unusual for the Mediter- ranean Region. The peculiarities of this record are shown. Key-words: Altitudinal record, Anisoptera, endangered species, Mediterranean Region. Riassunto - Somatochlora arctica (Odonata: Corduliidae) in ovo- deposizione a una quota “più bassa del solito” per l’Italia e la regione mediterranea e prima osservazione per la provincia di Varese (Italia settentrionale). S. arctica è una libellula (anisottero) minacciata, caratterizzata da popolazioni poco numerose e spesso isolate tra loro. Viene riportata la prima osservazione della specie per la Provincia di Varese, effet- tuata durante specifci monitoraggi dello zigottero Nehalennia spe- ciosa. L’osservazione di una femmina di S. arctica in ovideposizione è avvenuta in una torbiera situata alla quota più bassa per la specie in Italia (550 m s.l.m.) e ad una delle più inconsuete per la Regione Mediterranea. Parole chiave: Anisoptera, record altitudinale, regione mediter- ranea, specie minacciata. INtroductIoN Somatochlora arctica (Zetterstedt, 1840) is mainly a Sibero-European dragonfy with populations that reach Central Japan and Central Asia (Boudot & Kalkman, 2015). Its European geographic range extends from the French Massif Central to Belarus and Northern Ukraine and from the Southern Alps to Fennoscandia. It is found also in Scotland and Ireland, the French Pyrenees, Ro- mania and Bulgaria (De Knijf et al., 2011). In Italy, the species is widespread on the Alps, often with small po- pulations, from Valle D’Aosta to Friuli-Venezia Giulia, apparently more scattered in the western Italian range. The short fight season on Italian Alps (from mid-June to the frst decade of September) and the potential con- fusion with the more abundant and sympatric S. alpestris (Selys, 1840), lead to think that its actual distribution is underestimated. In Italy, like in other southern European countries, S. arctica favours Sphagnum peat bogs at high altitudes, from 835 m a.s.l. up to 2205 m a.s.l. (Riservato et al., 2014a), with only one record below 800 meters, in the Autonomous Province of Trento at the Torbiera di Fiavé (650 m a.s.l.; G. Assandri pers. com.). Other- wise, in Central and Northern Europe the species could be found at lower altitudes (Boudot & Jacquemin, 1987; Bouwman & Groenendijk, 2007). Due to the low densi- ty of its populations and the scattered distribution, the species is considered Near Threatened by the IUCN Red List of Italian dragonfies (Riservato et al., 2014b). During specifc monitoring of the only known po- pulation of the damselfy Nehalennia speciosa found in Lombardy, the authors observed an egg-laying female of S. arctica, the frst record for the site. The circumstances and peculiarities of the fnding are here reported. Study AreA The record was collected at 550 m a.s.l. in a peat bog (1.67 ha) in a good conservation status situated in the Cavagnano Special Area of Conservation (IT2010020) of the NATURA 2000 network (Varese Province). The central part of the site is occupied by a typical bog ve-