🚨 ARTHROPOD OF THE DAY 🚨

The habitat of the Pacific Spiketail is clear, shady foothill and mountains streams with either sand or mud substrate and steady current. Away from water this species tends to forage along forest openings and clearings or brushy ravines. Pacific Spiketails often perch on trees and small branches of shrubs for lengthy periods of time.

This is a large vividly-marked, black and yellow dragonfly with long abdomen, the eyes are smallish and barely touching. They are strong flyers and when perched often hang at a 45° angle. The female has a spikelike ovipositor. This species inhabits lotic systems in western Montana (small woodland streams and rivers). There is only 1 genus and 1 species of this family of dragonflies in NorthWestern North America.