A large family, but poorly represented in our region. B.C. has only six species and the Yukon appears to have none (although two species may live in the southeast). Compared to some other families, clubtails are not common here, but they are easily recognizable by their widely separated eyes and their green or yellow bodies striped in brown and black. The tip of the abdomen, especially in males, is enlarged, giving them their English name. Females lack an ovipositor and drop their eggs directly into clear streams and along the sandy shallows of larger lakes; they lay their eggs without the protection of their mates. Larvae burrow in the bottom sediments of these water bodies.
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Rare in dry interior valleys. Breeds along warm streams and lakeshores with sandy or muddy edges. Adults fly over the water, landing along the shore or on shoreline vegetation.
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