Living in a college on the outskirts of acres of farmland and dense shrubbery might be a bit boring, but it has its perks. I came across this one in front of my room.
The Indian Common Clubtail dragonfly, Ictinogomphus rapax, is found all over India. It’s a large yellow and black coloured dragonfly with bluish-grey ommatidia.
The name refers to the club-like widening of the end of the abdomen (abdominal segments 7 through 9). However, this club is usually less pronounced in females and is entirely absent in some species.
As @keuudeip says, it is one of the largest dragonflies you’d see; and yet is is graceful, perching often on the most extreme parts of a plant.
The dragonfly is mostly riverine, flies quickly and attacks other dragonflies flying over the pond, returning to the same position. This shows it’s very territorial.
In scientific terms, the common clubtail is called Ictinogomphus rapax, a species of dragonfly in the family Gomphidae. It is found in throughout the Orient region. The adults are indeed found near water, and are bio-indicators of river water quality because they are highly dependent on high-quality water when early life development. Most of these dragonflies breed in streams, rivers, lakes and ponds, but more often in still water. Their nymphs hide in the bottom sediments of water bodies.
The Gomphidae family of dragonflies prefers habitats without vegetation, which facilitates their burrowing nature. They prefer both flowing and stagnant water (preferably the latter), and the mating takes place over still water. The female deposits eggs in the water in multiple vertical movements.
According to a reference, the male has an abdomen length of 52 mm, and a hind wing length of 40 mm. Morphologically, it has a black thorax marked with yellow. The lateral stripes are yellowish green, the legs are black, and the wings are transparent and black. Males are easily visible at the tips of branches above the water, in contrast, females are rarely seen. It often conducts flight patrols to repel disturbing species and return to favorite places. In hot weather it performs obelisks (standing with the abdomen raised vertically).