Anax imperator

The rather conspicuous green-and-blue Anax species is common near standing and slow-flowing water bodies in much of Europe and Africa. This is not the case in Finland where Anax imperator was observed only in 2010, 2013 and 2019. Since 2020, however, a few sporadic records have popped up in the southwesternmost edges of the country. Most of the records are from well-vegetated ponds in coastal areas.

Despite being an occasional rarity the species could be expected to become more abundant in the coming years, since it has experienced a rapid northwards expansion in Denmark and Sweden. Some of the most recent observations in Finland even regard egg-laying females.