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dusky clubtail
dusky clubtail (Progomphus obscurus) [female] [male]
Photos © Mary Kay Rubey
Features and Behaviors
FEATURES
Dusky clubtail dragonflies are known to appear dull as mature adults. Males have blue eyes and pale faces with wider dark diagonal stripes with pale sections on the thorax. Both males and females have dark brown legs and abdomen with narrow triangular pale shapes pointing towards the rear. This is shortened to half-length on segment seven, shorter on the eighth, and disappearing on the ninth and tenth. Females have the same coloration as males, but the triangle shapes and pale spots on the ninth and tenth segments are more pronounced.
BEHAVIOR
Males perch on low vegetation, such as water lilies, or the ground. Immature and female dusky clubtails linger in nearby woodland clearings, perching on or near the ground, on sandy roads, and in wide-open areas. They like large ponds, bog ponds, occasionally slow streams flowing into lakes, and clearwater lakes with open sandy shores lined by dense grass beds. They are found in the northeast corner of Illinois. They range north into Canada and east to the East Coast.
Illinois Range
Taxonomy
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Odonata
Family: Gomphidae
Illinois Status: common, native
