Epitheca

{{Short description|Genus of dragonflies}}

{{About|the dragonfly genus|the subcellular structural component of some phytoplankton|Frustule#Thecae}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| image = Dragonfly ran-4748 Epitheca cynosura.jpg

| image_caption = Common baskettail

| taxon = Epitheca

| authority = Burmeister, 1839

| synonyms =

| type_species=Libellula bimaculata |type_species_authority= Charpentier, 1825

}}

Epitheca is a genus of dragonflies in the family Corduliidae. They are commonly known as baskettails. Baskettails' distinction is the specially adapted, upturned abdomen tip of the females which allows them to carry their egg masses in a small, orange-tinted globule.{{Cite web|url=https://education.mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/field-guide/baskettails|title = Baskettails}}

Some authorities spin off the North American baskettails into two new genera, Epicordulia and Tetragoneuria, but this has not gained widespread acceptance and most references place them under this genus.{{Cite book |title=Dragonfly Genera of the New World

|last1=Garrison |first1=Rosser W. |last2=von Ellenrieder |first2=Natalia |last3=Louton |first3=Jerry A.

|year=2006 |publisher=The Johns Hopkins University Press |isbn=0-8018-8446-2 |page=157}}