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Gomphidae Clubtails

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Higher taxa:  Life   Insecta   Odonata   IDnature guides: Anisoptera, Aquatic_Insects_New_Hampshire, Dragonflies, Groups_Insecta, Odonata_families We parsed the following live from the Web into this page. Such content is managed by its original site and not cached on Discover Life. Please send feedback and corrections directly to the source. See original regarding copyrights and terms of use. Nymph Image, Sonic.net University of Michigan

Kinds

Anisogomphus Aphylla Arigomphus Burmagomphus Davidius Desmogomphus Dromogomphus Epigomphus Erpetogomphus Gomphidia Gomphurus Gomphus Hagenius Heliogomphus Ictinogomphus Lamelligomphus Lanthus Leptogomphus Lindenia Merogomphus Nihonogomphus Octogomphus Onychogomphus Ophiogomphus Paragomphus Perigomphus Phyllocycla Phyllogomphoides Progomphus Shaogomphus Sieboldius Sinictinogomphus Sinogomphus Stylogomphus Stylurus Trigomphus

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GOMPHIDAE - Clubtails Notes - Key - References Back to Anisoptera - Back to Home Page Page last updated: 23 October 1998 (EB) Notes on the Michigan Larvae of Gomphidae Michigan's second largest family of dragonflies, 31 species in 8 genera have so far been recorded in our state. The taxonomic status of one genus, Gomphus , continues to be disputed. Erpetogomphus has not yet been recorded in Michigan, but a record from central Ohio may make it possible that it can be encountered in the southernmost part of our state. Although adults are referred to as "clubtails," as the abdomen is often enlarged posteriorly to resemble a club, gomphids could just as easily be called "burrowing dragonflies," in reference to the larval habit of burrowing into various substrates in lotic and lentic waters. Their larval morphology - reduced antennae segments and strong fossorial legs, among other morphological adaptations - is ideally suited for concealing themselves in substrate and loose particulate debris. It's very interesting to watch live captured individuals, when released or put into a container filled with silt, sand or other debris, quickly use their legs to conceal themselves. Most are found in silt, sand or gravel in lakes and rivers, but one species - Hagenius brevistylus - has adapted itself to conceal itself by sprawling within leafy and woody debris in streams and lakes. back to top   Generic Key to Mature Larvae of Michigan Gomphidae 1a. Mesocoxae closer together than procoxae (Fig.1a1); Ant4 elongate, 0.25x as long as antennal segment 3 (Fig.1a2) - Progomphus obscurus Fig. 1a1 Fig.1a2 1b. Mesocoxae not closer together than procoxae (picture); antennal segment 4 vestigial or a small, rounded knob (picture) - 2 2a. (1b). Abdomen subcircular, body very flat (Fig. 2a1); head with paired tubercles behind eyes (picture) - Hagenius brevistylus Fig.2a1 2b. Abdomen not so flat, more cylindrical (picture); head without paired tubercles behind eyes (picture) - 3 Back to previous couplet(1) 3a. (2b). Wing cases strongly divergent (Fig. 3a1); Ab8 and 9 about equal in middorsal length; lotic - 4 Fig. a Fig. 3a1: Ophiogomphus rupinsulensis larva, 12x dorsal view. Specimen collected from the Salmon-Trout River, Marquette County, Michigan, by M. F. O'Brien on 21 June 1997. 3b. Wing cases parallel along back (picture); middorsal length of Ab9 clearly longer than that of Ab8 - 5 Back to previous couplet(2) ; Back to beginning of key 4a. (3a). Epiproct, cerci and paraprocts all subequal in length (picture) - Erpetogomphus designatus 4b. Cerci distinctly shorter, at most 0.8x the length of the epiproct and paraprocts (Fig. 4b1) - Ophiogomphus Fig. 2a3 Fig. 4b1: O. susbehcha exuvia (12.5x, lateral view), from St. Croix River, Burnett Co., WI, collected by T. E. Vogt on 30 May 1990. Back to previous couplet(3) ; Back to beginning of key 5a. (3b). Flattened antennal segment 3 nearly oval (Fig. 5a1); lotic - Stylogomphus albistylus Fig. x. Fig. 5a1. Stylogomphus albistylus larva, collected from Mountain Stream, Marquette Co., Michigan, USA, on 30 June 1996 by Bright, O'Brien and M. A. Kielb. UMMZODO-0179. 5b. Cylindrical antennal segment 3 more than 4 times as long as wide (picture) - 6 Back to previous couplet(4) ; Back to beginning of key 6a. (5b). Abdominal segment 9 with a long acute middorsal ridge ending in a long, sharp apical hook usually markedly darker than body base color (Fig. 6a1), ridge raised in lateral view (Fig. 6a2) - Dromogomphus spinosus Fig. 6a1 Fig. 6a2 Fig. 6a1: Dromogomphus spinosus larva (12x, dorsal view), collected from Third Sister Lake, outside Ann Arbor in Washtenaw County, Michigan, by F. Locke, on July 1940. UMMZODO-0562. Fig. 6a2: Ibid, lateral view. Both images taken at 12x. UMMZODO-0562. 6b. Abdominal segment 9 without such an acute, dark middorsal ridge bearing dorsal hook at apex (picture), and usually not markedly raised in lateral view (picture) - 7 Back to previous couplet(5) ; Back to beginning of key 7a. (6b). Pro- and mesotibiae with burrowing hooks absent or obsolete (picture); lotic - Stylurus 7b. Pro- and mesotibiae with burrowing hooks at outer apical angle about as long as width of tarsus (picture) - 8 Back to previous couplet(6) ; Back to beginning of key 8a. (7a). Abdominal segment 10 longer than wide (Fig. 8a1-2) - Arigomphus Fig. 8a1 Fig 8a1: Arigomphus cornutus exuvia, (12.5x, dorsal view) from Washtenaw Co., Michigan, collected 23 May 1998 by M. F. O'Brien. 8b. Abdominal segment 10 wider than long (picture) - Gomphus complex Back to previous couplet(7) ; Back to beginning of key back to top