Dragonflies and Damselflies (Insecta: Odonata) of Sphagnum Bog at Maliszew (East-Central Poland)

A Sphagnum bog located near the Maliszew (east-central Poland) was studied in 2022–2023. Direct observations of imagines were carried out and exuviae were collected. The material collected consisted of 735 exuviae. Among the collected exuviae, about 71.56% were Leucorrhinia pectoralis (Charpentier, 1825). The exuviae of Libellula quadrimaculata Linnaeus, 1758 and representatives of the genus Coenagrion Kirby, 1890, including C. puella (Linnaeus, 1758), also contributed to a relatively large proportion of the material. Twenty-two species of dragonflies were found, representing approximately 29.73% of the Polish odonatofauna. Fourteen species were considered autochthonous or likely autochthonous. Among all species found, eurytopes were the predominant ecological element, while tyrphobionts and tyrphophiles predominated among autochthonous and probably autochthonous species. Among the recorded species there are also five “umbrella species” for Sphagnum bogs. A reproductive local population of Nehalennia speciosa (Charpentier, 1840), which is vulnerable (VU) to extinction worldwide and endangered (EN) in Poland, was discovered. The value of biocenosis naturalness qualitative index for Sphagnum bogs was 4.23. In light of the literature data, this value is relatively high, suggesting the naturalness of the boggy complex is largely preserved. The studied Sphagnum bog should be considered a relatively valuable area on a Polish scale in terms of dragonfly conservation.