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Taxonomic Hierarchy |
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Kingdom: |
Animalia -- animal |
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Phylum: |
Arthropoda -- arthropods |
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Class: |
hexapoda -- insects |
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Subclass: |
Pterygota -- iwinged insects |
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Infraclass: |
Palaeoptera-- wing insects |
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Superorder: |
Odonatoptera -- ancient winged insects |
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Order: |
Odonata -- Dragonflies and Damselflies |
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Suborder: |
Anisoptera -- Dragonflies |
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Family: |
Aeshnidae -- Darners |
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Genus: |
Anax |
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Species: |
Anax junius |
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Description: |
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Diet: |
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Naiad-This
is a very large naiad with a length of 1 3/4 to 1 7/8 inches
(43 to 47 mm). It is long and slender like other Darner
naiads. It is mottled green and brown. |
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Naiad-Naiads
feed on a wide variety of aquatic insects, such as mosquito
larvae, other aquatic fly larvae, mayfly larvae, and
freshwater shrimp. They will also eat small fish and
tadpoles. |
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Adult-Male:
more solidly colored than Mosaic Darners; green eyes and
yellow-green face; 'bullseye shaped mark top of face; solid
green thorax; electric blue abdomen with wide dark stripe on
top; wings can be clear or show yellowish tinge
Adult-Female:
abdomen purplish brown with green; brown eyes; rarer form
colored like male; all have brown eyes |
Adult-The dragonfly
will eat almost any soft-bodied flying insect including
mosquitoes, flies, butterflies, moths, mayflies, and
stoneflies. |
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Size: |
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very large, 63 - 84 mm, wingspan 92 - 103 mm |
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Range Information: |
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Habitat: |
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This
species occurs in Canada from southern British Columbia east
to Nova Scotia, and throughout the entire U.S. extending
south into Mexico and Central America. |
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This
dragonfly can be found near weedy ponds and lakes at low
elevations. |
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U. S.
Flight
Season: |
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California Flight Period: |
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June -
September |
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all months, migratory |
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Ecology: |
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Reproduction: |
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Like
other Darners, the naiads are active predators, and are able
to swim by jet propulsion - squirting water out from the
ends of their abdomens. They can be very aggressive hunters,
and because of their aggressiveness they are often exposed
and fall prey to predatory fish. They generally take several
years to mature, and typically emerge as adults at night.
This behavior probably evolved to avoid being eaten be
daytime predators. Adults generally fly from June through
September, and do all of their hunting while on the wing.
This species is perhaps the best known of the North American
migrant dragonflies. The adults that appear in Idaho in June
are fully mature, having emerged earlier in the spring from
ponds and lakes far to the south. They lay eggs here, and
the resulting generation of naiads emerges as adults in
August and migrates to the south. Here, they eventually
produce a generation that will fly north in the spring.
There
was an incident on the East Coast during one fall migration,
where a Ruby-throated hummingbird was taken down by a
dragonfly, but the dragonfly was frightened off by a group
of bird watchers who saw the incident. According to the
description given by the birders, the dragonfly involved was
probably this species. |
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Males establish and continually defend territories along the
shores of lakes and ponds. After males and females mate,
females then fly singly, without the male attached, or in
tandem with the male, to lay their eggs in the stems and
leaves of aquatic plants. |
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Conservation: |
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Sources : |
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G1
G2
G3
G4
G5 |
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G5 -
Populations are widespread, abundant, and secure.
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