Southern Fingertail, Gomphidia quarrei, Suidelike Vingerstert.

Short description:

Southern Fingertail, Gomphidia quarrei, Suidelike Vingertstert is fairly large sized, with a very clearly yellow and black striped thorax, very slender abdomen with small yellow bands It has a club without foliations on the terminal segments.

Family Gomphidae Rambur, 1842 

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Short description:

Fairly large sized, with a very clearly yellow and black striped thorax, very slender abdomen with small yellow bands It has a club without foliations on the terminal segments.

Key identification features:

Male:

• Face greenish yellow with fine dark brown and black spots and transverse lines.
• Eyes brownish above, greyish green below.
• Neck black above, black with yellow spots on sides.
• Thorax yellow to yellowish green with dark brown stripes, yellow and brown stripes of equal width.
• Wings clear, slightly smoky at tips. Venation brownish black, leading edge of costa yellow. Pterostigmas long (5 mm), narrow, black.
• Abdomen slender with black and yellow rings, widening at segment 7 into a club without foliations. First two-thirds of segment 7 bright yellow. Superior appendages long, yellow with black tips.
  Inferior appendages extremely short, dark brown, conical.

Female:

• Similar, yellow is reduced but bold yellow mark on segment 7 is distinctive.

 Habitat:

• In southern Africa, it occurs in streams and rivers in forest and woodland, as well as in wet savanna regions. It is locally abundant along the Kwando River in Namibia, where it flows through high reeds.
• Often seen hunting over or near rapids from a perch in the reeds. Maybe  seen hunting with Cascaders (Zygonnyx Nnatalensis (Blue Cascader) and Z. torridus  (Ringed Cascader)) as well as Southern Riverking (Zygonoides feulleborn)
• From 0 to 1500 m above sea level.

Behaviour:

• Perching along open rivers and larger streams in savanna to forest, conspicuously on top of reeds and branches.

Compared with other species:

• Common Tigertail, Icterogomphus ferox, has very distinctive foliations on S8. S8-10 and  has mottled yellow markings compared with G. quarrei.  I
• f bands are not visible identify this species by wing venation and foliages (or the lack off)

Identification guide

Click HERE for an identification guide for Clubtails based on images of the thorax

Click HERE for identification guide for clubtails by features - Foliages and Clubtails

Learn more about southern African Clubtails

Distribution

South Africa:

• Uncommon and localized in the north east and north western parts of South Africa. 

Africa:

•  Angola; Botswana; Congo-Brazzaville; Democratic Republic of the Congo; Gabon; Kenya; Malawi; Mozambique; Namibia; Republic of South Africa; Tanzania; Zambia; Zimbabwe

Further reading:

Websites:

• A Visual Guide to the Damselflies and Dragonflies of South Africa
• The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (Least Concern)
• Odonata Atlas of Africa VMU Number 664770
• African Dragonflies & Damselflies Online