A Tiger Spiketail dragonfly (Cordulegaster erronea) was captured along a small stream at an undisclosed location in Prince William County, Virginia USA. The specimen was photographed and released unharmed.
The first few images show Michael Powell, my former friend and photowalking buddy, holding the dragonfly while I shot some photographs.
05 AUG 2021 | Prince William County, VA | Tiger Spiketail (male)
This individual is a male, as indicated by his hamules, “indented” hind wings, and terminal appendages.
05 AUG 2021 | Prince William County, VA | Tiger Spiketail (male)
What a handsome face! Cue “Eye Of The Tiger” by Survivor.
05 AUG 2021 | Prince William County, VA | Tiger Spiketail (male)
The next image shows me holding the dragonfly so that Mike could take some photographs.
Photo used with written permission from Michael Powell.
(See a full-size version of the original photo, without annotation.)
Up, up, and away!
The last photograph shows the Tiger Spiketail “posed” au naturel on the trunk of a fallen tree. Mike and I chose that spot because it was one of only a few sunny places along the small forest stream. The Tiger flew away almost immediately after I released him, headed toward the tree canopy. Mike had time for one clear shot. Good thing, ‘cuz I had no opportunity to get a shot.
Photo used with written permission from Michael Powell.
The backstory
I went on my first Tiger safari during July 2018 when I visited a location in Fairfax County, Virginia that a friend shared with me in strictest confidence. Although I saw several Tiger Spiketail dragonflies, every individual was in flight and I was unable to shoot still photos and/or video — they were gone by the time I reached for my camera!
Every year for the next few years, the story was similar — I saw Tigers but had no photos/videos to verify my sightings. Eventually I came to the conclusion that I would need to capture a specimen with an insect net in order to take photographs.
Let me be perfectly clear — all things being equal I would prefer to photograph dragonflies perching naturally rather than netting them. Sometimes, as in this case, netting is the better way to go.
Rest assured I have great respect for the rare- to uncommon species of odonates. The Tiger Spiketail featured in this post was held in captivity no longer than absolutely necessary, and was handled gently at all times.
Our strategy
Mike and I arrived at the stream site sometime after 10 a.m. While I setup my 18” diameter collapsible insect net, Mike took the point a little farther downstream to look for a Tiger approaching our location. No more than 10 minutes after I was in position alongside the stream, Mike spotted a Tiger flying upstream in our direction.
I waited until the Tiger had almost reached the place where I was standing before I swung my net forward smoothly and was psyched to see the dragonfly go all the way into the net. I said to Mike, “I got it!”
From that point, I worked quickly to gently remove the dragonfly from the net so that Mike and I could take some photographs of this rare species.
Range map
The following map shows all official records for Cordulegaster erronea in the United States of America. Tiger Spiketail is a habitat specialist that is challenging to find.
Related Resources
- Anatomy of a male Tiger Spiketail – a photo-illustrated identification guide by Walter Sanford.
- Habitat for Tiger Spiketail dragonfly – a blog post by Walter Sanford, published on 09 August 2018.
- Habitat for Tiger Spiketail dragonfly – a follow-up blog post by Walter Sanford, published on 09 August 2019. The location shown in the 2019 post is the same one where we photographed the C. erronea shown above.
- BioQuip Collapsible Insect Nets
- How To Unfold and Fold A Collapsible Insect Net, by BioQuip (1:23)
- Cordulegaster erronea Tiger Spiketail on NatureServe Explorer. The conservation status for C. erronea in Virginia is “Vulnerable (S3).”
Copyright © 2021 Walter Sanford. All rights reserved.
Tags: Cordulegaster erronea, Family Cordulegastridae (Spiketails), habitat specialist, hamules, male, terminal appendages, Tiger Spiketail dragonfly
walter sanford's photoblog 
August 7, 2021 at 1:15 pm |
How lucky you got this rare one 🙂
August 7, 2021 at 2:36 pm |
Way to go Walter! Nice team work and excellent swing of the net.
August 7, 2021 at 3:39 pm |
Special thanks to Batting Coach Boatwright for coaching me up on my swing! 😉
August 7, 2021 at 8:31 pm |
😊
August 7, 2021 at 3:59 pm |
It is so gratifying when a plan comes together. It was definitely exciting to get such a close look at this very distinctive dragonfly.
August 7, 2021 at 10:19 pm |
Thanks, Murdock. I love it when a plan comes together! Signed, Colonel Hannibal Smith, The A-Team, a.k.a., The Anisoptera Team.
August 8, 2021 at 6:09 am |
Reblogged this on Mike Powell and commented:
For the last several years fellow dragonfly enthusiast Walter Sanford and I have been trying to photograph a Tiger Spiketail dragonfly, a relatively rare and elusive species. We have spotted multiple times, but had been unable to get any photos until this Thursday. Walter’s wonderful posting provides the backstory to our encounter and some fascinating information about this species and some cool photos.
August 8, 2021 at 11:38 am |
Outstanding results!
Kudos to you both.
Terrific find and splendid photographs!