Family: Aeschnidae, Darners view all from this family

Description 2 3/4-3 1/8" (70-80 mm); wingspan to 4 3/8" (110 mm). Thorax green, abdomen blue to purplish gray. Wings with pale yellowish area toward tips, darkening as insect ages. Targetlike mark on face. Compound eyes often color of milk chocolate. Naiad, to 1 7/8" (48 mm), is dark greenish brown.

Food Adult preys on midges, mosquitoes, caddisflies, and other flying insects. Naiad feeds on tadpoles, small fish, and aquatic insects.

Life Cycle Female inserts eggs singly into slit cut in stem of a submerged plant. Fully grown naiads crawl out of the water in early spring or late summer to transform into adults.

Habitat Near ponds and slow streams.

Range Throughout North America, less common in the West.

Discussion The Green Darner is one of the fastest and biggest of the common dragonflies. Other giants include the brown and green Heroic Darner (Epiaeschna heros), to 3 5/8" (93 mm) with a wingspan to 5 1/8" (130 mm), which is found from Mexico to Quebec; and the green, yellow, and brown Walsingham's Darner (Anax walsinghami), 3 1/2-4 3/4" (90-120 mm) with wingspan to 5 7/8" (150 mm), found in the Southwest.