Hine's emerald
The Hine's emerald is a dragonfly with a dark green body and two yellow stripes on each side. When it first comes out, its eyes are brown, but after three days they turn bright emerald green. It is very rare and protected by law.
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Fun facts
Its baby, called a nymph, lives in shallow water for 2 to 4 years and sometimes hides in crayfish burrows.
To grow up, the nymph climbs a cattail plant, its skin splits open along its back, and the dragonfly climbs out.
The flying grown-up lives only about 4 to 6 weeks.
A male guards a small patch near the water and chases away other dragonflies.
Sometimes many of them hunt together in a big swarm.
Most asked questions about Hine's emerald
?Why is the Hine's emerald endangered?
Many of the wet places where it lives have been dried out or changed, so it has few homes left.
?What does the Hine's emerald eat?
Small flying insects like mosquitoes and gnats. Its babies hunt in the water.
?How big is a Hine's emerald?
About 6 centimetres long, with wings about 9 centimetres across.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Somatochlora hineana
- Group
- Dragonflies and damselflies
- Family
- Corduliidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Odonata > Corduliidae
- Lives on
- North America
Where the facts come from
- Hine's emerald (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 USFWS Midwest Region from United States. CC BY 2.0, 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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