Anax imperator

Description

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. 

Source: FinBIF species descriptions
Description text authors:

Miikka Friman / Finnish Museum of Natural History (updated 3.9.2021)

CC BY 4.0

The map represents observations of this taxon, but it may not be used as a distribution map.

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Observations
  • Total squares
Checklist
FinBIF master checklist
Scientific name
Anax imperator
Author
Leach, 1815
Vernacular names
  • keisarikorento (Finnish)
  • blå kejsartrollslända (Swedish)
Identifier
http://tun.fi/MX.63181
Taxon rank
species
Occurrence in Finland
Observed in Finland
Status in Finland
  • Irregular vagrant
Finnish Regional Red List Category
  • 2019 NA – Not Applicable
Experts
  • Sami Karjalainen
  • Heidi Viljanen
DNA barcode sequences
Informal groups
  • Insects and arachnids
  • Dragonflies
  • Aquatic insects