Turkish Clubtail
(Gomphus schneiderii)

To all intents and purposes the Turkish Clubtail (Gomphus schneiderii) is the blue-eyed Eastern twin of the Common Clubtail (G. vulgatissimus). Structurally the two species are very similar, but the colour of the eyes (blue rather than green) and of the thorax (yellow rather than greenish) does give the Turkish Clubtail a different look. Another difference we noticed in the field is that Gomphus schneiderii seems much more approachable and less wary of nosy photographers than its Western European sibling - either that or we were plain lucky. In Europe the species is restricted to Greece and some of its islands (e.g. Lesbos, Corfu and Lefkada).

For an overview of the Turkish Clubtail's distribution in Europe, hover your mouse pointer over the map symbol .
With the authors' permission we have based this map on data published in Kalkman et al. (2010).

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