Observations on reproductive behaviour of Hemianax ephippiger (Burm.) in Andalusia, Spain (Anisoptera: Aeshnidae)

The records of H. ephippiger in the Iberian Peninsula are very scarce (C. AGUIAR & S. AGUIAR, 1985, Balm Soc. port. Em. 4 [Suppl. I]: 245- -268; — F.J. OCHARAN, 1987, Los odonatos de Asturias y de Espaha: aspeclns sistemdticos y faunisticos, Tesis doctoral, Univ. Oviedo) and do not prove its breeding here. Its reproductive behaviour has been watched both in Morocco (G. JACQUEM1N & J.P. BOUDOUT, 1986, Notul. odonatol. 2: 112-113) and in France (C. DELIRY, 1989, Sympetrum 3: 39-43). On 28th February, 1992, we saw two males of this species overflying several temporary pools located in an unused limestone mine (UTM 30SUG4598) near the town of Cordoba. The vegetation of these pools, with a cover less than 15% and a maximum height of about I m, consisted mainly of Typha domingensis (Per.) Steudel. Juncus sp.. Aster sp., Ranunculus peltatus Schrank. and Dittrichia viscosa (L.) Greuter. This loose habitat structure allowed us an easy and dear dragonfly watching by means of binoculars.