Spiny baskettail
The spiny baskettail is a dragonfly with big eyes and four see-through wings. Its name comes from a tiny spine at the very end of the male's tail. You can only see it flying at the start of summer.
How fast is it?
Fun facts
Grown-up spiny baskettails fly only for a short time each year, from late May to early July.
The male has a sharp little spine at the end of his tail that points down toward the ground.
Once in a while a male has no spine at all, even though the spine gave the dragonfly its name.
Most asked questions about Spiny baskettail
?Why is it called the spiny baskettail?
Because the male has a small sharp spine at the end of his tail. Its scientific name, spinigera, also means spine-bearing.
?When can I see a spiny baskettail?
Look for it from late May to early July. That is the only time the grown-ups fly.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Epitheca spinigera
- Group
- Dragonflies and damselflies
- Family
- Corduliidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Odonata > Corduliidae
- Lives on
- North America
Where the facts come from
- Spiny baskettail (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Raphael Carter. CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
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