Green darner
The green darner is a big dragonfly with a bright green body front and, in grown-up males, a blue-purple tail. It zooms over ponds and catches insects in the air. Every autumn many green darners fly south on a long journey, just like birds do.
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Fun facts
It got its name because its long, thin body looks like a darning needle, used for mending socks.
It has a black mark like a little target on its face, right in front of its eyes.
The round trip takes more than one lifetime. The dragonflies that fly north in spring have children, and those children make the trip back south.
It is the official state insect of Washington in the United States.
The mother and father often stay joined together while she lays her eggs under the water.
Most asked questions about Green darner
?Do green darners bite or sting?
They do not sting, and they are not dangerous. They are good friends because they eat mosquitoes.
?Do green darners migrate?
Yes. Many fly from the northern United States down to Texas and Mexico in autumn, and their young come back north in spring.
?How big is a green darner?
It is about 7 to 8 centimetres long, with wings up to 10 centimetres across.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Anax junius
- Named by
- Drury, 1773
- Group
- Dragonflies and damselflies
- Family
- Aeshnidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Odonata > Aeshnidae
- Lives on
- North America, Asia, Australia and Oceania
- Also known as
- Common green darner
Where the facts come from
- Green darner (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by JeffreyGammon. CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
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