Pale sand dragonfly (Onychogomphus forcipatus) and other members of the family Gomphidae are the only multi-coloured dragonflies whose eyes do not touch. The pale sand dragonfly is typically 46 to 50 mm long, with a wingspan of about 5.5 cm. The male has bluish-green eyes that, as we have already mentioned, do not touch. It has a black body with a pattern of yellow markings that, in outline, resemble chess pieces and can be quite pale in some individuals. Characteristic for the pale sand dragonfly are a slender abdomen that thickens at the end into a club-shaped tip and large hooked anal appendages.
The female is also contrastingly coloured, with the yellow markings usually larger. When looking at her, you will notice a noticeably bulbous abdomen, whose end is not thickened.
The pale sand dragonfly prefers to live in unshaded parts of watercourses, and it also does well along the edge of a larger lake. The sun-exposed banks are essential for its success, as adults are distinctly sun-loving and like to perch on sunlit stones and rocks by the watercourse, where they lived as larvae. Males sit with an elevated abdomen and display their hooked anal appendages, which are not dangerous to humans at all, as dragonflies use them only for mating with females.
This is a common summer species that we will see flying from May to September.
