Brown Spiketail dragonfly (female)

The preceding photo gallery shows a female Brown Spiketail dragonfly perching near the ground. Why are Spiketail dragonflies called "spiketails," and how do I know this individual is a female? The answer to both questions is illustrated in Photo 1 of 6, an annotated close-up photograph of the posterior end of the Brown Spiketail dragonfly’s abdomen. All female dragonflies have a pair of cerci (superior appendages) that have little or no function. Notice the spike-shaped ovipositor. "Spiketail dragonflies are so named because the female’s long 'ovipositor,' or egg-laying organ, extends beyond the tip of the abdomen." Source Credit: New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. http://www.dec.ny.gov/about/82240.html Thanks to Richard Orr, renowned expert on dragonflies and damselflies of the mid-Atlantic region, for verifying my tentative indentification of both the gender of the dragonfly and some of its anatomical parts. http://www.marylandinsects.com/DragonfliesDamselflies.html