common Baskettail
Common Baskettail (confirmed by appendages). This individual was photographed at Darby Creek near Columbus, but all the other photos below were taken locally.
This is another Common Baskettail that I confirmed from the appendages. The eyes are gray or brown in young individuals like this one. The eyes can turn brilliant green in mature individuals.
This is probably a female Common Baskettail, but this species is very difficult to distinguish from the Slender Baskettail, especially with females. There is a strong possibility that Common and Slender Baskettails might be hybridizing in our area, which makes identification even more of a challenge.
This is the exuvia (discarded shell) of a baskettail dragonfly. I found it exactly as seen in the picture, sitting atop a daisy right by the water's edge. The baskettail nymph had crawled up the daisy's stem and emerged on the flower. Photographed at Germantown MetroPark, May 29, 2016.
Another teneral baskettail, photographed at Spring Lakes Park in Bellbrook. I love the moment when a teneral dragonfly's wings snap open for the first time. The freshly emerged wings are filmy and iridescent. Soon, this dragonfly will take her first flight.
Close-up view of the cerci on a Common Baskettail. Examining the appendages is the best way to distinguish Common from Slender Baskettails. (But they rarely sit still for these photos!)
A teneral baskettail, with shiny wings, clinging to its exuvia at Cox Arboretum. The exuvia is the nymph's exoskeleton (discarded once the adult dragonfly emerges).
Common Baskettails fly from late April through June. This species is very common in our area. This individual was photographed at Caesar Creek. I see Common Baskettails flying at most of our local wooded ponds and wetlands in the spring.