Records of Somatochlora arctica (Zett.) and Aeshna subarctica Walker from northwestern Germany (Anisoptera: Corduliidae, Aeshnidae)

When revising the dragonfly collection of the Landesmuseum fur Naturkunde. Munster. I found exuviae of Somatochlora arctica, which had been collected in May, 1939 in the "Georgsdorfer Moor" (UTM-gridreference: LD 6929). The exuviae were taken, along with imagines, by H. Beyer of Munster, former director of the Biological Station "Heiliges Meer" near Munster. Westfalia. Beyer never published this record, but now he handed me from his diary the notes on this record. The larvae lived in great numbers in drainage ditches, being only a foot wide and deep, in a dried up moorland area. Females were observed ovipositing in these ditches. This old record is to be added to the distribution list furnished by B. K1AUTA (1964. Em. Ber.. Am.sl. 24: 235-238). Since 1939 the whole area has been transformed into meadow land. T here are no recent recordings of the local dragonfly fauna. So nothing is known whether S. arctica is still living there in some ditches. At least in the northern parts of its distribution area the species looses its tyrphobiontic character. So the occurrence of the species in this meadow land is not unlikely at all. I also found in the collection one male Aeshna subarctica, misidentilïcd as A. juncea, collected on September 4. 197.1 in the nature reserve "Gildehauser Venn" (UTM-gridreference: LC 7191). immediately at the Westfalian border. This rather recent record is of interest, because A. subarctica has been noticed hitherto onl\ twice in this region near Münster (F. REUS, 1928. /. Morph. Okol. Tiere 12: 533-683: R RUDOLPH. 1978. Notul. odonatol, I: 30). The two specimens collected by Peus had been identified by the late Erich Schmidt, but both are lost from the Munster collection.