FLAG-TAILED SPINYLEG
Flag-tailed Spinyleg. These dragonflies are fairly common at large ponds and lakes in our area. They can occasionally be found along rivers.
This Flag-tailed Spinyleg was eating a Common Buckeye butterfly. These voracious dragonflies will lurk in a grassy meadow and nab passing butterflies.
This is a shimmery, teneral Flag-tailed Spinyleg, photographed at Spring Lakes Park in Bellbrook. Spring Lakes has an excellent population of this species.
Flag-tailed Spinylegs fly from mid-June through mid-September.
This individual was photographed at Cowan Lake, which also has a good population of Flag-tailed Spinylegs.
Here is a Flag-tailed Spinyleg eating a Pearl Crescent butterfly. I have also seen Flag-tailed Spinylegs eating Hackberry Emperors, Cloudless and Orange Sulphurs, and small skipper butterflies.
The long, spiny hindlegs are used for holding prey.
This Flag-tailed Spinyleg is dining on a Silver-spotted Skipper. I often see these dragonflies hunting for butterflies at Caesar Creek Wildlife Area. They use the prairie as a hunting ground to find butterflies and other small prey insects.
This is a newly-emerged Flag-tailed Spinyleg and my personal early date (June 11, 2023).
Flag-tailed Spinyleg at Possum Creek MetroPark. Males love to perch on rocks where they can look out over the ponds.