Bug FAQGreen Snaketail
Ophiogomphus cecilia · Order: Odonata · Family: Gomphidae
Also called: Green Clubtail, Green Gomphid
The Green Snaketail is the only European snaketail and looks like a large clubtail but with a vivid apple-green front in adults. It lives in sandy-gravelly creeks and streams with moderate flow and little pollution, and adults fly from late July to mid-August, sometimes seen until early October.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Mature individuals have bright apple-green faces and short yellowish male appendages; both sexes show two tiny crests between the eyes and thin black thoracic lines that may be reduced in some bugs.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
It is the largest Gomphidae in Europe apart from the Bladetail, with green eyes, a green thorax with thin black lines, and a moderately clubbed abdomen ending in a broader yellow pattern.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
Typical habitats are creeks with sandy-gravel bottoms, moderate flow, shallow water, and some tree shade; most records come from rivers and streams.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
Larvae hunt both buried prey and surface prey, sometimes hiding with only the head capsule and anal pyramid exposed. Adult males perch on sunny spots above running water such as stalks, branches, stones and sandbanks.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
Larval development usually lasts three to four years, possibly as few as two. Hatching occurs from late May into August, with the main adult flight period from late July to mid-August.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
In Bavaria hatching can start in the second half of May and continue into August; adults are observable until early October.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
Its range covers many European countries including Austria, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, Sweden and others, with the main distribution in Eastern Europe.
Source: Wikipedia
Lookalikes
It is the only snaketail in Europe and may be confused with large clubtails, but its vivid apple-green front and short male appendages set it apart.
Source: Wikipedia
More photos
Questions people ask
Where does the Green Snaketail live?
It prefers creeks with sandy-gravel bottoms, moderate flow, shallow water and some tree shade, mainly in rivers and streams.
Source: Wikipedia
What do the larvae eat?
Larvae hunt both burrowing prey and prey on the substrate surface, sometimes hiding with only the head and anal pyramid exposed.
Source: Wikipedia
Which countries have Green Snaketails?
They are recorded in many European nations such as Austria, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, Sweden and others, especially in Eastern Europe.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Gomphidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ophiogomphus_cecilia
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-23 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.