Darners, Hawkers

Classification

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Arthropoda

Subphylum: Hexapoda

Class: Insecta

Order: Odonata

Family: Aeshnidae

This family includes the largest species of dragonflies found in North America and Europe. They range in size from 2-5 inches in length. Most species are around 3 inches in length. They are known as darners in North America because the female's abdomen looks like a sewing needle when she cuts into plant stems to lay her eggs.

Darners have long, thin abdomens; four transparent wings; and large, round, compound eyes that meet at the top of their head. Most species are blue or green or a combination of blue and green.

Darners hunt and eat other insects. They spend most of their time during the day flying and looking for prey. Males can be very territorial and will chase away other males. The dragonflies in this family are very fast fliers and can fly backwards and forwards and can hover in the air like a helicopter.

Darner naiads (immature dragonflies) are long and slender. They move through the water by squirting water out of their abdomens. They climb over submerged vegetation hunting for food. They eat mosquito larvae, damselfly and dragonfly nymphs, tadpoles, and small fish. When a naiad is the right size, it crawls up on a plant stem, its skin splits, and a dragonfly emerges. To avoid predators, naiads usually do this at night.