The route of the brand new highway linking the rest of Italy to Cuneo in its last part runs straight in the riverbed of the Stura river. This had a big impact on environment and landscape, but had also a certain positive consequence for dragonflies because “compensatory measures” included the set up of a series of small ponds along the roadway. Currently the most interesting are those in Sant’Anselmo hamlet, accessible by a road starting from the main road between Cuneo and Castelletto Stura and reaching the riverbed. There are two small ponds with abundant water vegetation. Over the years most of the 39 species recorded up to now in the “Parco fluviale di Cuneo” were observed here.

Among the commonest damselflies you can see here Calopteryx virgo, Ischnura elegans, Coenagrion puella, Enallagma cyathigerum, Platycnemis pennipes and Pyrrhosoma nymphula. Rarer are Chalcolestes viridis, Ischnura pumilio, Coenagrion caerulescens, Cercion lindenii and Ceriagrion tenellum. Among the Anisoptera you can observe frequently Anax imperator, Aeshna cyanea, Crocothemis erythraea, Libellula depressa, four kinds of Orthetrum and some Sympetrum (fonscolombii, pedemontanum, sanguineum, striolatum). Rarer are Anax parthenope and Hemianax ephippiger, Aeshna mixta, Sympetrum depressiusculum. Along the small ditches around the area you can see Cordulegaster boltonii and, on the Stura river nearby, Onychogomphus forcipatus.