A male Robust Baskettail on territory in Anne Arundel Co., Maryland (4/26/2015). Richard notes that the photo shows "the small tooth on top of the superior appendage that is characteristic of the Robust Baskettail."
Robust Baskettail (Epitheca spinosa) is a large, stocky species of baskettail, with a spotty and sporadic distribution across the Atlantic coastal plain into the deep south, west to Texas. This emerald breeds in wooded swamps, and slow streams with similar swampy sections. Robust Baskettail has been recorded from the coastal plain, on both the eastern and western shores, and up the Potomac River floodplain to Frederick County (Richard Orr's The Dragonflies and Damselflies of Maryland and the District of Columbia). This species is ranked as S1 (highly state rare) to S2 (state rare).
The Eastern Shore of Maryland's first record of Robust Baskettail, Worcester Co. (4/26/2009). Found by Brighton, Stasz, Holbrook, et al.
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Bill Hubick.
A male Robust Baskettail on territory in Anne Arundel Co., Maryland (4/26/2015). Richard notes that the photo shows "the small tooth on top of the superior appendage that is characteristic of the Robust Baskettail."
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Richard Orr.
A Robust Baskettail in Caroline Co., Maryland (4/18/2011).
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Hans Holbrook.
A Robust Baskettail in Caroline Co., Maryland (4/15/2011).
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Hans Holbrook.
A female Robust Baskettail in Anne Arundel Co., Maryland (4/28/2015). The insert shows the subgenital plate, which is helpful in the identification.
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Richard Orr.
The IUCN conservation status of Epitheca spinosa is "LC", least concern, with no immediate threat to the species' survival. The population is stable.[1][6]
Kalkman, V. J. (2013). Studies on phylogeny and biogeography of damselflies (Odonata) with emphasis on the Argiolestidae (PhD). Leiden University. hdl:1887/22953.