Clubtail dragonfly larvae11/5/2023 Lab experiments for this species have found that females are capable of laying over 5000 eggs. ReproductionĪfter when both genders mate, the female flies singly, without the male attached, to lay her eggs by dipping the tip of her abdomen into rivers, lakes, or slow streams while hovering above it. They perch with their abdomen elevated and their wings drooping so the tips just touch the ground. Hunting occurs from rocks or bare sand from which they rest on. These dragonflies can not tolerate cooler temperatures and are rarely seen flying on cool or cloudy days. Adults generally fly from mid-July to mid-August. Unlike most species this dragonfly nymphs emerge as adults during the day. This helps them to breathe while buried by pumping water in and out of the tip of the abdomen. They will burrow into the sand or mud, leaving the upturned tip of their abdomen exposed. Plians clubtail nymphs can be very selective in their habitat choice and will often occur only in certain stretches of a particular river or stream. They will sometimes eat small fish and tadpoles. Nymphs of plains clubtails feed on a wide variety of aquatic insects, including mosquito larvae, other aquatic fly larvae, mayfly larvae, and freshwater shrimp. Plains clubtails will feed on almost any soft-bodied flying insect such as mosquitoes, flies, butterflies, moths, mayflies, and flying ants or termites. In Wisconsin, they have been documented to have a flight season from early June to mid-July. Another flight season it has is early April to mid-August. The plains clubtail has many flight seasons, mid-July to mid-August is the most common. Plains clubtails prefer moderately flowing rivers and large streams with muddy bottoms, and occasionally lakes. On each side of abdominal segments six through nine, there is a single, rear-facing spine. 04 June 2023 The first period of early emerging dragonflies is almost over now with Clubtails nearly all having flown and we move in to the middle season. Its abdomen is thick for most of its length, then tapers to a rounded point at the end of segment ten. The nymph of the plains clubtail is a large in size with a maximum length of 1 5/16 inches (33 mm). As with other clubtails, the segments at the tip of its abdomen are wider than the rest. Its abdomen is black and is marked with a line of yellow dashes along the top. The base of its wings may be clouded with yellow where they attach to its body. The top of its thorax behind its head is marked with a parallel pair of yellow stripes, and every side of the thorax is marked with several diagonal yellow stripes. The base of this dragonfly is brownish black. Thomson Brooks/Cole, Belmont, CA.The plains clubtail is a medium to large dragonfly with a length of 2 1/16 to 2 3/8 inches (52 to 60 mm). Larvae bury themselves in the riverbed so they can catch small prey. Borror and DeLong’s Introduction to the Study of Insects. The dragonflies live near streams that have muddy or sandy areas around them. They’re considered very beneficial to humans since both the larvae and adults consume large numbers of insect pests, including mosquitoes (Triplehorn and Johnson 2005). They continue the predaceous feeding habits of naiads, capturing other flying insects and often eating them in flight. As they grow they may molt 9-17 times before leaving the water to molt into adults (Triplehorn and Johnson 2005).Īlthough the adults fly rather well, they seldom stray far from their aquatic nurseries (Triplehorn and Johnson 2005). More subtle features of the eyes, mouthparts, and wings are also used to identify members of this family.ĭragonfly larvae (naiads) spend their time at the bottom of rivers and lakes ambushing other aquatic insects. This species is concentrated around the Great Lakes and adults only appear for a few weeks in and around June.Ĭlubtails get their name from their obvious clubbed tails, but this feature isn’t present in all taxa (Triplehorn and Johnson 2005). Yesterday I noticed several of these midland clubtail dragonflies ( Gomphus fraternus, Gomphidae) near the River Raisin in southeast Michigan. Midland clubtail dragonfly (Gomphus fraternus, Gomphidae) photographed near Blissfield Michigan.
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