Common Green Darner

Anax junius

A dancer on the edges of wetlands, captivating observers with its ethereal beauty and intriguing behaviors, the Common Green Darner stands out for its vivid emerald-green coloration and striking blue accents that shimmer in the sunlight.

Habitat

Look for the Common Green Darner across North America, south through Mexico and Central America to Panama, in the Caribbean, and even in Asia from Japan to mainland China! You’ll find them at lakes, wetlands, and slow streams and rivers. A migrant, it will move north in spring and south in fall.

Food

Common Green Darners are predators. When young they feed on aquatic insects, small crustaceans, small tadpoles, and even small fish. Adults eat flying insects.

Behaviour

Like all dragonflies, they begin their lives under water, first as eggs, and then nymphs. Over several years, the nymphs grow and feed below the surface before emerging and shedding their skin to become the stunning adults we see flying on land. As adults, Common Green Darners then embark on a remarkable migration journey north and south each year over the course of three generations. The first generation emerges in the south in early spring and migrates north, mates, and lays eggs. The second generation emerges in the north in summer, mates, lays eggs, and then and migrates south in fall. Finally, a third generation emerges in the south over winter and does not migrate.

Conservation

Common Green Darners are common and are of low conservation concern. They play an important role in controlling insect populations. Wetland loss, leading to habitat loss, is their primary threat. Advances in micro transmitters has made it possible to better study their migrations.

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