Club Tailed Dragonfly (Gomphus vulgatissimus)

The Club Tailed Dragonfly

This is in my opinion a reasonably rare dragonfly in the United Kingdom and it gets its very appropriate name from the obvious swollen tip on its abdomen. This is present in both the sexes with subtle differences in the anal appendages.

It is confined to the southern half of the United Kingdom in a few specific sites. This species prefers slow flowing rivers where they like to breed, although adults can be encountered far from water.

One of their strongholds is on the River Thames at Goring but there are also relatively small satillite populations on the River Kennet, which has been my only hunting ground for this dragonfly to date. I have heard of them being sighted on the River Blackwater but this is as yet unconfirmed.

Perching adults are a very rare site. The adult male is dull green and black and I have yet to see one, but I am still searching. The adult female is yellow and black and closely resembles an immature specimen (see above).

It is these immature Club Tailed Dragonflies that you are more likely to encounter on days of an emergence. On such days they can be quite abundant but you must make the most of the opportunity, it may not arise again. Once they disperse finding one can be a very difficult task indeed.

Quick ID Link

Photographic Overview - The Club Tailed Dragonfly

All of my images are taken in handheld mode without the use of any camera support and this overview is written with that in mind.

This is a relatively difficult dragonfly to photograph purely because its quite difficult to locate in the first place. On the right day in May on the River Kennet you will catch a synchronised emergence, where you will see numerous immature specimens; however the next day they will be gone.

The immature specimens are fairly easy to approach and photograph. They tend to sit on river side vegetation near to their emergence site while their wings dry out. It is at this stage that they hold their wings closed in an upright position, as they dry out the wings will open into the crucifix position. There is still a window of opportunity to get some good images before they fly off, usually away from the water side.

Make sure you take advantage of these photographic opportunities as they do not arise very often and if you miss an emergence that could be it for the season.

If you want to know more about this species, then follow this link - To Narrative

If you want to see the best of these images, then follow this link - To Slide Show

These images were obtained by stealth and patience alone, no other non photographic techniques were used. I hope you have enjoyed browsing my website and that you'll return again soon.

Page Updated 05/11

All of these photographs were taken by and remain the property of Chris Brooks

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