Club-tailed Dragonfly
Gomphus vulgatissimus
Length 50mm

Male has tip of abdomen swollen and both sexes show eyes spaced wide apart. Body of both sexes mainly black but with conspicuous yellow markings in immature specimens, these becoming lime-green when mature. Very local, being restricted today to stretches of Rivers Severn and Thames and a few sites in Sussex. Nymphs live in silt on river bed; empty nymphal skins can often be found among riverside vegetation. Adult emerges in late May and flies throughout June.