Common Clubtail
(Gomphus vulgatissimus)

The Common Clubtail may be the commonest and most widespread gomphid in Europe, but at least in Italy it's far from numerous. And it's largely absent from Iberia, the British Isles, the South-East and Northern Scandinavia. Gomphus vulgatissimus is a fairly small gomphid. Typically of the species of this genus, its eyes are widely separated. Its legs are entirely black while the black lines on the sides of the thorax tend to be fairly thick. The male's colour changes with age from yellow to green. The yellow (or green) dorsal line on the abdomen stops at segment 8; S8-S10 are entirely black dorsally without interruption.

For an overview of the Common 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).
Legend: Red = Occurs, White = Doesn't occur; Purple = Extinct; Yellow = Vagrant.

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