Bug FAQSkillet Clubtail
Gomphurus ventricosus · Order: Odonata · Family: Gomphidae
The skillet clubtail’s shed skins are smooth, unpatterned, and about 28 to 29 mm long. It lives along large, clean, rocky rivers with fine sediment and a slow to moderate current.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Adults are black and yellow with green-to-turquoise eyes and an unmarked face. The abdomen shows long yellow stripes and ends in a wide, yellow-spotted club.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Exuviae measure about 28 to 29 mm and have a granular surface without any pattern.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
They prefer large, pristine rocky rivers with fine sediment and a slow to moderate flow.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
Males make short flights over water and then perch in hidden spots. They also feed in weedy fields near their breeding sites.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
The shed skins (exuviae) are unpatterned, granular, and about 28 to 29 mm long.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
The species is native to southeastern Canada and the northeastern United States. Its range also extends from Kentucky and Virginia northward to Minnesota, Michigan, and Vermont.
Source: Wikipedia
Lookalikes
Before a 2018 taxonomic revision, this dragonfly was known as Gomphus ventricosus.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 16 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Indiana, Ohio, New York, Massachusetts, North Carolina.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Status: native in North America; native in Canada; native in United States. Source: iNaturalist
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
More photos
Questions people ask
Where does the skillet clubtail live?
It inhabits large, clean, rocky rivers with fine sediment and a slow to moderate current, across southeastern Canada and the northeastern United States, extending from Kentucky and Virginia up to Minnesota, Michigan, and Vermont.
Source: Wikipedia
What does the skillet clubtail eat?
Males fly short distances over water and perch in hidden spots, and they also feed in nearby weedy fields.
Source: Wikipedia
What are the shed skins of the skillet clubtail like?
The exuviae are smooth, unpatterned, granular, and measure about 28 to 29 mm in length.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Gomphidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gomphurus_ventricosus
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.