Grappletail - Octogomphus specularis

The recent heatwave made for good dragonfly hunting. On a warm and breezy May 12th  I met Leslie Flint to check out the odes at Lake Lagunitas and Bon Tempe Reservoir, Marin County, California. The highlight for me were the Grappletail wars, as 10-12 males vied for prime spots on sunlit rocks in the creek just below the Lake Lagunitas dam. The main strategy seemed to be a rapid approach from almost any direction, usually resulting in the roosting Grappletail taking flight at the threat, "just in case", yielding to the newcomer. Somewhat surprisingly this tactic sometimes worked for the feisty Vivid Dancers, present in large numbers at this same spot.

The Grappletail is in the Clubtail Family (Gomphidae), and is in the monotypic genus Octogomphus.

First photo (above) shows a confusion of wings, as the strong overhead sunlight cast sharp shadows of the wing veins. The shot is pretty good for the terminal "grappletail", as well as the long thin abdomen that ends in a distended clubtail shape. Second shot (below) shows the remarkable urn shape on the dorsum of the thorax, a striking and unique fieldmark.

Some text from an email in July, 2012, when we found Grappletail on a trip along Pine Flat Road led by Kathy and Dave Biggs:

"Grappletails have very slender abdomens (compare the diameter to that of the thorax), which increase in thickness toward the back end, especially in the male. As you might guess, the bulge at the end gives the name ' clubtail'.  The names of the various clubtail genera are varied and  creative, including the Sandragons, Leaftails, Forceptails (Greater and Lesser), Pond Clubtails, Common Clubtails, Hanging Clubtails, Spinylegs, Dragonhunters, Ringtails, Snaketails, Least Clubtails, and of course the Grappletail. The last is not pleural because there is only one species in the monotypic genus, Octogomphus specularis, the Grappletail.  Some of these sobriquets would perhaps serve well for a street gang or a videogame!"