Faded Pincertail
(Onychogomphus costae)

The Faded Pincertail has a very limited range; it only occurs in North-Africa and in Iberia. At the third time of asking we managed to find and photograph the species in Spain in July 2011, and then again in June 2012. Onychogomphus costae is a small and highly inconspicuous species whose main line of defence against predators would seem to be camouflage; even from three feet away the animals are virtually invisible against a background of sand and dried grasses. The species' most distinguishing features include its coloration of off-whites, sandy yellows, beige and brown, its small size (comparable to Paragomphus genei), and the shape of the male's appendages, with the upper appendages much longer than the deeply incised lower appendage. Also striking is the tuft of white hairs underneath the male's seventh abdominal segment. Photographing Onychogomphus costae proved to be quite a back-breaking task; the individuals we saw invariably rested close to the ground, perching on low vegetation or, rarely, on rocks.

For an overview of the Faded Pincertail'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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