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.
