Gomphidae

Gomphidae Temporal range:
Bladetail, male, Lindenia tetraphylla North Macedonia
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Clade:	Pancrustacea
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Odonata
Infraorder:	Anisoptera
Superfamily:	Gomphoidea Rambur, 18421
Family:	Gomphidae Rambur, 18421
Genera
See text
Synonyms2
Lindeniidae Yakobson and Bianchi, 1905

Gomphidae is a family of dragonflies commonly referred to as clubtails or club-tailed dragonflies.³ It is the only family in the superfamily Gomphoidea.²⁴

The family contains about 90 genera and more than 900 species distributed across North and South America, Europe, Asia, Australia and Africa.⁵

The common name refers to the club-like widening near the end of the abdomen. This club is generally less pronounced in females and is absent in some species.

Clubtails are usually medium-sized to large dragonflies with a slender abdomen that is often expanded near the tip. Many species have distinctive striped thoracic patterns, although coloration varies considerably across the family.⁶

Some clubtails spend much time at rest, perching on the ground or on vegetation and darting out to capture flying insects.⁶

Many species perch with the abdomen sloping upward and the tip curled slightly downward, while larger species may perch with the abdomen hanging down or resting flat against a surface. Some species also adopt an "obelisk" posture in exposed conditions, raising the abdomen vertically.⁶

Many clubtails breed in streams, rivers and lakes. The nymphs are typically burrowing predators that live in sediment or debris at the bottom of the water body, although some species live among leaf litter.⁷⁸

The nymphs usually have a flat mentum and antennae with four segments, although morphology varies across the family.⁸

Phylogenetic studies support Gomphoidea as a distinct evolutionary lineage of dragonflies represented solely by the family Gomphidae.²⁹

Gomphoidea is generally recovered as the sister group to all other modern dragonflies except Petaluridae.⁹²

The family and superfamily names are derived from the type genus Gomphus, with the standard zoological suffixes -idae used for families and -oidea used for superfamilies.

The genus name Gomphus is derived from the Greek γόμφος (gomphos, "bolt" or "nail"), referring to the shape of the abdomen, likened to a bolt used in shipbuilding.¹⁰¹¹

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  Gomphidae wing structure: note the similar-sized triangles of the front and hind wings and the widely separated eyes.
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  Pair of yellow-striped hunters mating
• 
  Common clubtail, Ictinogomphus rapax
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  Gomphus vulgatissimus, showing the characteristic clubbed abdomen
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  Head of Gomphus vulgatissimus showing widely separated eyes
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  Paragomphus lineatus, male
• 
  Paragomphus lineatus, female

These genera belong to the family Gomphidae.⁴

• †Auroradraco Archibald & Cannings, 2019 Kamloops Group, Canada, Ypresian¹²
• †Burmalindenia Schädel & Bechly, 2016 Burmese amber, Cenomanian
• †Cratohagenius Bechly, 2010 Crato Formation, Brazil, Aptian¹³
• †Cratolindenia Bechly, 2000 Crato Formation, Brazil, Aptian
• †Gunterbechlya Huang et al., 2019 Burmese amber, Cenomanian¹⁴
• ?†Nannogomphus Handlirsch, 1906 (potentially related to early dragonfly lineages)¹⁵

The following extinct families are also considered part of Gomphoidea:¹⁴

• †Araripegomphidae Bechly, 1996
• †Burmagomphidae Zheng et al., 2017¹⁶
• †Libanogomphidae Azar & Nel, 2023¹⁷
• †Paraburmagomphidae Zheng et al., 2018¹⁸
• †Proterogomphidae Bechly et al., 1998¹⁹