Description: Large green-eyed southwestern spiketail with yellow-ringed abdomen.
Males: Eyes ligth green or blue-green above, darker below; face mostly black with yellow crossband. Thorax black with broad yellow stripes. Abdomen black with irregular yellow markings producing spots on sides and bands across top.
Females: Colored as male, easily distinguished by slighty thicker abdomen, long ovipositor (Paulson, 2009).
Size: Total length: 74-88mm; hindwing: 43-53 mm.
Similar Species: Only dragonfly like it in southwestern mountains. Differs from Darners in small green eyes, much more vividly contrasting thoracic stripes, and clearly ringed abdomen. Most like Persephone's Darner, also large and shares its habitat although tends to fly later in season. Male and most female Persephone's have blue markings rather than yellow on abdomen. Spiketails also have much more conspicuous stripes on front oh thorax than Darners.
Habitat: Small, forested streams in mountains.
Natural History: Males are not territorial; Instead they patrol long routes by streams in southeastern Arizona. Certain stream segments are visited sporadically by many different evils. Females rarely appear at water and receptive females are rarer still. Males capture receptive females in flight, copulate while perched for periods of about 2 hr, after which their mates are released to oviposit unguarded. The significance of the correlation between extended copulation and non-territorial patrolling, which occurs in this and other unrelated dragonflies, remains to be fully understood
Distribution: USA: Arizona, New Mexico and Utah. Uplands of Mexico to Costa Rica.
Source:
Alcock J. 1985. Reproductive behavior of Cordulegaster diadema Selys (Anisoptera: Cordulegastridae). Odonalologica 14 (4): 313-317.
Paulson, D. 2009. Dragonflies and Damselflies of the West. Princeton University Press. 536 pp.
Edited by Juan Cruzado (03/12/2017)
