The only snaketail in Europe; resembles a large clubtail in general coloration and river habitat, but the 'front-end' is vivid apple green in mature individuals and the male appendages are short.

[4] It is found in Austria, Belarus, Bulgaria, China, the Czech Republic,[5] Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Moldova, North Macedonia,[6] Poland, Portugal, Spain, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia,[7] Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, and Ukraine.

[8] The characteristic habitat of Ophiogomphus cecilia are creeks with a sandy-gravelly bottom, moderate flow speed and shallow water depth, shading in places by trees on the banks and little pollution.

The remaining sites are spread across a wide variety of water types, but none of them play a role as larval habitat.

[8] Of a total of 2,700 exuvia that were collected between 1992 and 1994 in the mouth of the Swabian Rezat, most of them hung on the banks of a five-meter-wide and between 50 and 120 cm deep mill stream with a muddy to sandy bottom.

[8] Males can be detected at distances of up to two kilometres from the inhabited rivers in sun-exposed hillside forests on the edge of a valley.

There are also indications that the females also visit the breeding waters separately from the males in terms of space and time.

In addition, hide hunting is known, in which only the front part of the head capsule and the anal pyramid protrude from the substrate.

Hatching and flight areas do not necessarily have to be identical, exuvia can also be found in places where adult animals are only sporadically sighted.