PRINCE BASKETTAIL
The extent of the wings spots is quite variable. Some Prince Baskettails have very heavily marked wings with large spots. Other individuals, like this one, have very little color in the wings apart from the dark wingtips.
Prince Baskettail. This is our largest species of baskettail. Mature males have green eyes. Prince Baskettails often perch with their abdomens extended outward like this.
Prince Baskettails fly from late May through September (with occasional stragglers into October). This is a very common species in our area. I see them flying all the time, but they are very difficult to find perched.
This individual has much larger spots than the one above.
This female Prince Baskettail has red eyes instead of green. Notice that she has an egg mass beneath her abdomen.
This is how I usually see a Prince Baskettail - not perched in a tree but whizzing past me on patrol!
This is one of the easier dragonfly species to photograph in flight. (Actually, none of them are easy, but relatively speaking, Prince Baskettails are!)
Prince Baskettails are found at nearly every type of aquatic habitat - everywhere from rivers and streams, to large lakes and small ponds, to fens and marshes.
