Sinuous Snaketail

Ophiogomphus occidentis · Order: Odonata · Family: Gomphidae

No source yet on danger. We have no source yet on whether it bites, stings or damages anything.
Sinuous Snaketail
Photo: Mary K. Hanson, CC BY

The sinuous snaketail is a clubtail dragonfly in the family Gomphidae. It occurs in North America.

Source: Wikipedia

How to recognize it

The sinuous snaketail belongs to the clubtail dragonfly family Gomphidae.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it comes from

This species is found in North America.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it is found in the US

Recorded in 7 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Oregon, California, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Utah.

Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.

Source: GBIF

Status: native in North America; native in Canada. Source: iNaturalist

Months it is reported in the US

JFMAMJJASOND

Source: GBIF

More photos

Sinuous Snaketail photo 2
Photo: Chris Conard, CC BY
Sinuous Snaketail photo 3
Photo: Ken-ichi Ueda, CC BY
Sinuous Snaketail photo 4
Photo: Laura Gaudette, CC BY
Sinuous Snaketail photo 5
Photo: Doug Brush, CC BY

Same family (Gomphidae)

Small PincertailSmall PincertailOnychogomphus forcipatusDragonhunterDragonhunterHagenius brevistylusBlack-shouldered SpinylegBlack-shouldered SpinylegDromogomphus spinosusCommon ClubtailCommon ClubtailGomphus vulgatissimusLarge PincertailLarge PincertailOnychogomphus uncatusEastern RingtailEastern RingtailErpetogomphus designatus

Sources

  • Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ophiogomphus_occidentis

Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia

Text written 2026-10-24 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-24.

How this page works

This is one bug's fact sheet. The colored box at the top says whether it is dangerous. Sections below cover how to recognize it, whether it is a pest, and how to deal with it. The US map shows which states have records; tap a state to see other bugs there.

Every fact on Bug FAQ comes from a named source (university extension sites, government agencies, GBIF, iNaturalist, Wikipedia). The source is linked next to each section. If we have no source for something, we leave it out.