Family: Aeshnidae
California Darner		Lance-tipped Darner
Variable Darner			Blue-eyed Darner
Paddle-tailed Darner			Zigzag Darner
Shadow Darner		Common Green Darner

Aeshnidae: The Darners

Family Facts:

• This family is known as the Darners, because the females lay their eggs in plants, and their abdomens look like a sewing needle as they cut into plant stems to insert their eggs.
• In North America there are 41 species in 11 genera that belong to this family. In Idaho this family contains genera Aeshna and Anax, both of which are commonly known as darners. There are seven species of Aeshna and one of Anax that occur in Idaho.
• This family includes the largest and most powerful dragonflies. They vary in length from 2 inches to almost 5 inches long from head to tail, with the majority of species about 3 inches long. The abdomen is long and slender, and the thorax is robust. The abdomen is very narrow just behind the thorax.
• The wings are almost always clear.
• Members of this family have the largest eyes and most highly developed nervous systems of any family of dragonflies. The eyes cover most of the head and meet along a broad seam on the top of the head.
• These are the fastest fliers among the dragonflies, and they are almost always on the wing during the day. They do all of their hunting while on the wing, and will capture and eat almost any soft-bodied insect that is smaller than themselves. Adults are often found feeding miles from water.
• These dragonflies have a highly developed ability to control their body temperature, thus can fly in colder temperatures than most other dragonflies. They also occur farther north than most other dragonflies.
• The naiads are very long and slender. They are voracious hunters and climb actively over submerged vegetation looking for prey. They will eat anything smaller than themselves, including mosquito larvae, damselfly nymphs, other dragonfly nymphs, tadpoles, and small fish. In warmer climates the naiads mature in one year or even less, but in the most northerly areas where they occur, they may take up to 8 years to mature.
• When the naiad has reached the proper size, it crawls out of the water onto a plant stem or anything that projects out of the water. In a slow, fascinating process it emerges from a split in its naiad skin to become a dragonfly. The naiads are vulnerable to predators during this time, thus they emerge at night when the number of predators is low. They usually crawl vertically onto vegetation and emerge while vertical.
• The naiads in this family swim by jet propulsion. They do this by squirting water out of the end of their abdomen.

Genus: Aeshna
Members of this genus have a brown base coloration, with blue or yellow stripes on the side of the thorax, and blue, green or yellow spots on each segment of the abdomen. They are medium to large sized dragonflies. Females in this genus fly singly, without the male attached, and lay their eggs alone in the stems of aquatic plants or in decaying wood that has fallen into the water.

Aeshna californica- California Darner
Aeshna constricta- Lance-tipped Darner
Aeshna interrupta- Variable Darner
Aeshna multicolor- Blue-eyed Darner
Aeshna palmata- Paddle-tailed Darner
Aeshna sitchensis- Zigzag Darner
Aeshna umbrosa- Shadow darner

Genus:Anax
These are our largest dragonflies. The smallest member of this genus is the largest dragonfly found in Idaho! The other members are found further south. These dragonflies have a solid green thorax with no stripes. Females fly singly or in tandem with the male to lay their eggs in the stems of aquatic plants.

Anax junius- Common Green Darner