Breaking the Calopteryx-bottleneck: taxonomy and range of Calopteryx splendens waterstoni Schneider, 1984 and of C. splendens tschaldirica Bartenef, 1909 (Zygoptera: Calopterygidae)

The range of C. s. watersoni is defined. It is bounded to the west by C. s. amasina, with which it hybridizes in a river valley at Gdrele. The wide variability of the hybrids indicates that they themselves are fertile, and therefore establishes the subspecific level of both taxa. It is suggested that the eastern boundary of ssp. waterstoni is defined by hybrid population(s) (C. s. waterstoni x C. s. mingrelica) north of Batum, originally identified as C. s. tschaldirica by Bartenef. The south-western range boundary of the latter taxon, which is shown to be valid, is also redefined. It is confined to some high plateaus of Eastern Anatolia and the S.S.R. Armenia, is broadly separated from C. s. walersloni by the valley of the middle and lower (Joruh River in the west, and hybridizes with C. s. amasina in the South along a fairly wide area of intergradation. — The present study bears heavily on the general taxonomic situation within C. splendens. In redefining the components of this complex, as much weight should be given to range boundaries as to morphology.