Cordulegaster diastatops (Delta-spotted Spiketail)A.P. Morse, a naturalist associated with Wellesley College in Massachusetts, collected the first odonate in Vermont on July 16, 1891, a Delta-spotted Spiketail, in the town of Jay. Found regularly in the Northeast Highlands and Northern Piedmont as well as the Taconic Mountains and Southern Green Mountains. Unlike Twin-spotted Spiketail (C. maculata), has not been found in the Champlain Valley. On average, occurs at slightly higher elevations (1600 ft) than Twin-spotted Spiketail (1200 ft), yet not been found in the Northern Green Mountains. Larval records of Delta-spotted Spiketail are unusual, whereas a significant number of Twin-spotted Spiketail records are larvae. The small, spring-fed streams preferred by Delta-spotted Spiketail are probably under-sampled. The Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard (MCZ) holds a specimen that is the oldest dragonfly from Vermont for which a full date is known: 16 July 1891 by Prof. A.P. Morse of Wellesley, Massachusetts.

Conservation Status

State: S5
Global: G5

Flight Period

May 24 – July 25

More Information

Vermont Distribution