Butterflies, Moths, Dragonflies & Damselflies of Dayton, Ohio

HOCKING COUNTY DRAGONFLIES 

The dragonfly at left looks a lot like a Common Baskettail ... but it is actually an Uhler's Sundragon. These dragonflies have tiny amber spots at the wing bases, among other minor differences. Uhler's Sundragons are rare and classified as endangered in Ohio. I found this individual at Hocking Hills on May 13, 2018. Uhler's Sundragons are not known to occur in southwestern Ohio. 

The four species on this page were photographed in Hocking County, in eastern Ohio. The individual at left is a Stream Cruiser, photographed May 12, 2018. Stream Cruisers look very similar to clubtails when they are flying, but they perch differently and they are related to river cruiser dragonflies. 

Another Uhler's Sundragon, photographed May 7, 2017. I found both this individual and the one above at the exact same location in Hocking Hills, almost a year apart. 

Common Sanddragon, photographed at Hocking Hills on June 27, 2024. Note the pale yellow claspers at the end of his abdomen. 

This is another Stream Cruiser, photographed May 14, 2023 at Hocking Hills. The white claspers, single white stripe on the side of the thorax, and white facial stripe are all good field marks. In late May 2019, I saw a couple of Stream Cruisers at Spring Lakes Park in Bellbrook, my only local sightings to date. 

Another Common Sanddragon, found at Hocking Hills on July 3, 2022. Common Sanddragons are not known to occur in southwestern Ohio. They require sand-bottomed streams. We have plenty of rocky and mud-bottomed streams in the Dayton area, but very few sandy ones. 

This dragonfly is an Eastern Least Clubtail, photographed at Clear Creek MetroPark in Hocking County on July 1, 2024. This species is not known to occur in the Dayton area. They are found at riffles on forested streams. 

Eastern Least Clubtail at Clear Creek MetroPark. Note the white claspers at the end of the abdomen. These are TINY little dragonflies, much smaller than any clubtails we have in Dayton. When I first caught sight of one of these clubtails, from a distance, I thought it was a damselfly like a rubyspot or dancer. I am glad that I decided to take a closer look!