BROWN SPIKETAIL & Tiger Spiketail

Brown Spiketails are large, beautiful dragonflies that live in fens. Cedar Bog in Urbana is the easiest place to find Brown Spiketails, but they live in several other local fens as well. 

This Brown Spiketail was photographed at Gallagher Fen (Clark County).  

A newly-emerged Brown Spiketail with its exuvia. Found along the boardwalk at Cedar Bog, May 28, 2016.

Brown Spiketails fly in late May and early June. The last week of May or the first week of June is usually an ideal time to find them at Cedar Bog. 

Another Brown Spiketail. Note that there is a very similar species called the Delta-spotted Spiketail. It is found in eastern Ohio. If you draw a line down the center of the state through Columbus, almost all of the sightings west of that line would be Brown Spiketails, and almost all of the sightings east would be Delta-spotted. 

This Brown Spiketail was photographed near Travertine Fen (Greene County). This location is not accessible without a permit, but there is a public bike path that runs along one edge of Travertine Fen. I found this Brown Spiketail in the ditch right beside the bike path. 

A Brown Spiketail dragonfly at Cedar Bog, perched in one of the sedge meadows. This species perches often and is fairly easy to approach.

This dragonfly is a Tiger Spiketail, photographed on private property in Logan County, Ohio. I visited a private seepage near the Great Miami River with Jim Lemon and Jessica Lowery on July 28, 2024. Most Ohio Tiger Spiketail populations are located in the eastern half of the state, but this site is one of the few exceptions. Tiger Spiketails have nearly solid, unbroken yellow rings on their abdomens, rather than pairs of yellow spots like a Brown Spiketail. 

Lateral view of Brown Spiketail at Cedar Bog. 

This female was feeding on a wasp. Tiger Spiketails live in tiny, clean forested trickles and seeps. I have also seen this species in Hocking County on a couple of occasions. Tigers fly later in the summer than most spiketails. Most Ohio observations are from June through August.