Educational Corner: Common Green Darner (Anax junius)
Photo © Carol Freeman
The Common Green Darner has one of the longest flight seasons of North American dragonflies and may often be the first dragonfly to be spotted each spring.
It is the green thorax of these dragonflies that give them the common name; their abdomens may be blue to purple or gray (may be rusty purple to brown in females). The leading edge of their wings is yellowish, and an amber coloration may sometimes extend further into the wing. Females (see photo) have brown eyes; males have green eyes. Look for the bulls-eye pattern on the top of the head.
Adult Average Size: 3 inches (typically 70-80 mm)
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Odonata
Family: Aeshnidae (i.e., Darners)
Facts:
• Some Common Green Darners are not migratory, while others, curiously, migrate with the change in
seasons.
• If you get close enough, you might actually hear the clash of wings when males of the species spar with one another.
