The Dragonflies and Damselflies of North Carolina
Home Page Search Odonate Resources
LoginNC Biodiversity ProjectComments
North Carolina's 189 Odonate species
Common Name: Scientific Name:

«      »

Sort Species by: Family   Scientific Name       [ Undocumented ]
Related Species in GOMPHIDAE: Number of records for 2024 = 2

PDF has more details,
e.g., flight data, high counts, and earliest/latest dates can be seen.
[View PDF]		Diminutive Clubtail (Phanogomphus diminutus) by John Petranka
Compare with: Clearlake Clubtail  
Identification Tips: Move the cursor over the image, or tap the image if using a mobile device, to reveal ID Tips.
Note: these identification tips apply specifically to mature males; features may differ in immature males and in females.

[Google images]     [Global Biodiversity Information Facility]      iNaturalist
Map
Click on county for list of all its records for Diminutive Clubtail
Flight Charts
Distribution Essentially only the Sandhills region, plus the adjacent southern Coastal Plain, east to Harnett, Cumberland, and Bladen counties. NC lies at the northeastern edge of the species' range. The species has one of the more limited ranges for a dragonfly -- primarily along the Fall Line sandhills from NC, through central SC, to extreme eastern GA.
Abundance Uncommon to locally fairly common in the Sandhills, but very rare to the east. Can occur in some numbers, as there are three daily counts of 20 or more individuals.
Flight Spring season only; very late March to late May.
Habitat Sunny margins of lakes, ponds, pools, and other slow-moving water, often around sphagnum moss or other "boggy" ground.
Behavior Adults perch on the ground in the boggy places or dirt/ground nearby. They probably do not stray too far from such wet areas.
Comments In the Sandhills, this species is not too difficult to find, if one walks along the boggy, open margins of beaver ponds or man-made ponds, especially looking near sphagnum moss. Wet spots in powerline clearings can also have the species. It is one of the smaller clubtails, appearing similar at a glance to the much more common Lancet Clubtail, but the Diminutive (as the common name implies) is even slimmer and slightly shorter than the Lancet. A previous photo from Brunswick County that was identified as this species has been confirmed by the website editors (in late 2016) as a different species and thus this county has been removed from the range map. Owing to its small global range, the species has been on the N.C. Natural Heritage Program's Watch List for many years.
State Rank S3S4
State Status W
Global Rank G3G4
Federal Status
Synonym Gomphus diminutus
Other Name
Species account update: LeGrand on 2023-01-10 12:36:24
Photo Gallery for Diminutive Clubtail   25 photos are shown. Other NC Galleries:    Jeff Pippen    Will Cook    Ted Wilcox
Photo 1 by: Matt Spangler

Comment: Richmond; C, 2024-03-31, Sandhills GL Block A near Lake Bagget		Photo 2 by: Richard Stickney

Comment: Richmond; C, 2023-04-17, Indian Camp Lake
Photo 3 by: Harry LeGrand, Lori Arent

Comment: Richmond; C, 2023-04-05, - adjacent to unnamed pond near Bagget Lake Rd.; photo by Lori Arent		Photo 4 by: Harry LeGrand, Lori Arent

Comment: Richmond; C, 2022-05-31, Indian Camp Lake; photo by Lori Arent
Photo 5 by: B. Bockhahn

Comment: Cumberland, 2021-04-21, 		Photo 6 by: Ken Kneidel

Comment: Richmond; C, 2021-04-13, Lake Bagget, Sandhills Game Land
Photo 7 by: Matt Spangler

Comment: Richmond; C, 2021-04-12, Sandhills GL Block A (Lake Bagget and nearby ponds and roads)		Photo 8 by: Matt Spangler

Comment: Richmond; C, 2021-04-12, Sandhills GL Block A (Lake Bagget and nearby ponds and roads)
Photo 9 by: Rob Van Epps, Kevin Metcalf

Comment: Scotland, 2020-04-17, - Scotland Lake area - mostly males		Photo 10 by: Rob Van Epps, Kevin Metcalf

Comment: Scotland, 2020-04-17, - Scotland Lake area - mostly males
Photo 11 by: R.Emmitt, H. LeGrand, J. Pippen

Comment: Scotland, 2019-04-28, - Gum Swamp Lake		Photo 12 by: R Emmitt and super DSA crew!

Comment: Scotland, 2018-05-11, Scotland Lake
Photo 13 by: Mark Shields, Hunter Phillips

Comment: Scotland, 2017-05-15, Scotland Lake, Sandhills Game Land. Male preying upon a teneral Variable Dancer.		Photo 14 by: Kyle Kittelberger

Comment: Scotland, 2017-05-08, Sandhill Game Land; Scotland Lake - males and females
Photo 15 by: Kyle Kittelberger

Comment: Scotland, 2017-05-08, Sandhill Game Land; Scotland Lake - males and females		Photo 16 by: Mike Turner, Conrad Wernett, Alyssa Wernett

Comment: Scotland, 2017-05-07, Sandhill Game Land; Scotland Lake
Photo 17 by: John Petranka

Comment: Scotland, 2016-04-23, Sandhills Game Land, Scotland Lake. Mostly males. Photo.		Photo 18 by: Conrad Wernett, Alyssa Wernett, Matt Anderson

Comment: Scotland, 2015-05-03, - Mixed with G. exilis around Scotland Lake and adjacent woodlands/clearings.
Photo 19 by: Conrad Wernett

Comment: Scotland, 2014-04-26, - Scotland Lake and Lake McKinney		Photo 20 by: Ali Iyoob, Matt Daw, Dan Irizarry

Comment: Richmond; C, 2011-05-05, McKinney Lake Fish Hatchery
Photo 21 by: Ali Iyoob, Matt Daw, Dan Irizarry

Comment: Scotland, 2011-05-05, Scotland Lake in the Sandhill Game Land		Photo 22 by: Ali Iyoob, Matt Daw, Dan Irizarry

Comment: Scotland, 2011-05-05, Scotland Lake in the Sandhills Game Land
Photo 23 by: Jeffrey Pippen - Jeff's website

Comment: Scotland, 2004-04-10. Sandhills Game Land		Photo 24 by: Jeffrey Pippen - Jeff's website

Comment: Scotland, 2004-04-10. Sandhills Game Land
Photo 25 by: R Emmitt

Comment: Longer abdomen segments on S7 and S9 than S8 which as you can see is slightly shorter. Scotland County, NC on May 05, 2001. Male