Een vondst van de Rivierrombout (Gomphus flavipes (Charpentier)) langs de Waal

On the 5th of June 1996 a living larva of Gomphus flavipes was found in the residue of the cooling-water filters of the EPON power station at Nijmegen, This was the first record of the species in The Netherlands since 1902. Polution and canalization of rivers have caused it’s extinction in most of western Europe. It was recently rediscovered along some German rivers. The cooling-water is extracted from a canal connecting the rivers Waal (Rhine) and Maas (Meuse), which originate in Germany and France respectively. It seems probable that larval drift, due to high-water in recent winters, explains this remarkable discovery. The Rhine is the most likely source, there being a number of barriers in the canal from the other side. The importance of the regeneration of riverine habitats for the possible return of populations of Gomphus flavipesto The Netherlands is stressed.