Identification

Field Marks

• Average adult size is approximately from 1.7 to 1.9 inches
• Face yellow to tan with a black 'T' spot on the top of the frons
• Eyes are red on top and grey on the bottom turning green or blue with maturity
• Thorax is brown and black with a couple of small yellow spots located low on each side
• Black abdomen with a yellowish line separating the segments and a thicker yellowish line on both sides of the top of segments 3 to 8
• Minimal dark patches on the base of the hindwing
• Dark terminal appendages with a downward pointing spike or spine

Field Marks

• Female is colored similarly to the male
• Females eyes turn green at maturity where males usually turn more blue
• Females terminal appendages are longer than segments 9 and 10 combined
• Subgenital plates are more rounded than other Baskettail species. They look more like a 'U" compared to the others that look more like a 'V'

Similar Species

• Common Baskettail
• Spiny Baskettails have little to no dark markings on their wings, many Common Baskettails have a prominent wing patch at the base of the hindwing
• Male Spiny Baskettail have a small spine that protrudes from the underside of each cerci, the Common Baskettail does not
• Female Spiny Baskettails have slightly curved subgenital plates, Common Baskettail females have straight subgenital plates
• Beaverpond Baskettail
• The Common Baskettail has a large 'T' spot on the top of the frons, the Beaverpond Baskettail has a triangle instead
• Spiny Baskettail males have a spine on the underside of the cerci, the Beaverpond Baskettail male's cerci resembles an antler
• Female Spiny Baskettails have slightly curved subgenital plates, Beaverpond Baskettail females have straight subgenital plates

Behavior

Spiny Baskettails often emerge in mass with hundreds or perhaps thousands emerging and perching on trees and vegetation. They often feed in large swarms

Habitat

Prefer slow moving acidic water such as found in marshy lakes, ponds and slow streams

Reproduction

Females produce eggs which accumulate on the end of their abdomen, like a tiny basket, while the female looks for a suitable location to oviposit. She will look for a location with aquatic vegetation, often floating on the water, where she will dip her abdomen in and release the 'basket' of eggs which become short egg strings in the water. Often more than one female will oviposit in the same location