Olive Clubtail

Stylurus olivaceus

The Olive Clubtail is a special dragonfly with a long, slender body and beautiful olive-green colors. They love to fly around near water and are great at catching insects in the air!

Habitat: Wetlands

Appearance

The Olive Clubtail has a distinctive olive-green thorax and a dark abdomen with yellowish stripes. Its namesake 'club' refers to the widened segments at the end of its abdomen, making it visually distinct from many other slender dragonflies.

KingdomAnimaliaPhylumArthropodaClassInsectaOrderOdonataFamilyGomphidaeGenusStylurus

Olive Clubtail

Interesting facts

Adults catch flying insects using their spiky legs like a net while flying incredibly fast!

Dragonflies like the Olive Clubtail are ancient, flying the Earth even before dinosaurs roamed!

Its underwater larva can live for years, breathing with gills before transforming into an adult!

They are great indicators of healthy, clean freshwater ecosystems because of their sensitive larvae!

Special abilities

Olive Clubtail has incredible wrap-around compound eyes that help them spot tiny prey and predators from almost any direction.

Olive Clubtail can hover, fly backward, and turn on a dime because of its independently controlled wings, allowing precise aerial hunting.

Olive Clubtail has an olive-green body that helps them blend perfectly with riparian vegetation, making them nearly invisible.

Measurements & details

Wingspan: 60-85 mm
Size: 40-55 mm
Lifespan: 30-90 days
Flight Speed: 30-50 km/h
Leg Count: 6

Diet & Feeding

A fierce aerial hunter, it munches on smaller insects it snatches from the sky.

Age differences: Larvae hunt aquatic invertebrates like tadpoles and insect larvae; adults eat flying insects.

Primary Foods

mosquitoes
flies
midges
moths

Foraging Method

Pursuit

Ecological connections

hunts

Common Mosquito

Culex pipiens

adults actively hunt them in flight

eaten by

American Bullfrog

Lithobates catesbeianus

adults are prey for this amphibian

eaten by

Largemouth Bass

Micropterus salmoides

larvae are a food source for fish

Traits

Camouflaged

Camouflaged describes organisms that possess coloring or patterns that allow them to blend into their environment.

Colorful

Colorful describes organisms or objects displaying a wide range of bright and distinct colors.

Insectivorous

This trait identifies organisms whose diet primarily consists of insects and other small invertebrates.

Wetland

This habitat trait identifies species found in wetlands, which are areas of land saturated with water, either permanently or seasonally, including marshes, swamps, and bogs.