2. MATERIAL AND METHODS

2.1. Populations sampling

2.1.1 Allopatric populations
Ischnura elegans extends from Greece to Sweden while I. graellsii is an Iberian-Maghreb endemic species with a more restricted range in western North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula (Askew, 1989). We sampled individuals from five populations from the allopatric distribution of I. elegans and in three populations from the allopatric distribution of I. graellsii (Fig. 1A; Table 1). These allopatric populations were selected to cover a large part of their latitudinal distribution, with the aim of including a large and representative amount of the total genetic variation.