The "baskettails" are a subgroup of emeralds named for the ball or "basket" of eggs the females carry on their abdomens. There are four species in Wisconsin and, with exception of the distinctive Prince Baskettail, the other three species are quite similar. Each has a dark abdomen with orange side-spots and thus their identification rests almost entirely on shape of the abdominal appendages. In Spiny Baskettail, the male's upper claspers have a central downpointing tooth visible in profile and the female's appendages are close together and long (as long as segments 9+10). This species is fairly common in much of Wisconsin at a variety of wetland habitats, mostly in early-mid summer (June).