SWIFT SETWING
Swift Setwings are typically found in the southern U.S., but they are expanding their range northward. They were first discovered in Ohio in 2014, at a site in Champaign County. Since then, they have been found at several other locations in Ohio. They are often found at quarry lakes and deep ponds.
Both this teneral female and the individual above were photographed at the original Champaign County site on July 12, 2020.
I found the individual at left at Spring Lakes Park in Bellbrook, on July 17, 2016. I also saw another Swift Setwing at Spring Lakes Park on July 9, 2017, in the exact same willow as his predecessor the year before. But after that, I did not see any Swift Setwings at Spring Lakes from 2018 through 2020. I thought the population had died out.
Until I found this female at Spring Lakes on July 4, 2021! I observed her ovipositing in the pond. I was glad to see another Setwing at Spring Lakes again.
After that, I did not see any Setwings at Spring Lakes Park in 2022 and 2023. But I found this lone male there on July 13, 2024, and I observed several individuals in July and September 2025. It will be exciting if they establish a permanent population at Spring Lakes. 2025 was the first year I saw multiple individuals there.
Swift Setwing, photographed at Spring Lakes Park in Bellbrook. The striped thorax makes this species look somewhat like a Blue Dasher, but Swift Setwings have longer and thinner abdomens, and they have light-colored spots near the tip of their abdomens. Their wingtips are dark, and Swift Setwings usually perch with their wings pointed forward.
Another Swift Setwing at Spring Lakes, with a Slaty Skimmer friend looking on.