Tuesday, May 3, 2016

The green darner (Anax junius)

The green darner (Anax junius), is a species of dragonfly in the family Aeshnidae. It is named darner, due to its resemblance to a darning-needle. One of the most common and abundant species throughout North America. It is well known for its migration distance from the northern United States south into Texas and Mexico. It also occurs in the Caribbean, Tahiti, and Asia from Japan to mainland China.

Though I have seen several magnificent males flying circling ponds, but they rarely settle to be photographed. I got lucky with this female green darner as it settled on a low lying branch of a tree in hot afternoon sun. 

The males have bright blue tails where as females have brownish tails.

The darners lay eggs inside water and the nymphs are aquatic carnivores feeding on insects, tadpoles and small fishes. The adults feed mainly on flying insects. 














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