green-striped darner

green-striped darner (Aeshna verticalis) [female] [male]
Photo © Mary Kay Rubey

FEATURES
The total body length is about two and one-third to two and three-fourths inches. This species has green stripes on its thorax. The stripes are jagged and usually also show some blue areas, especially on the second stripe. The male's eyes are green. The female's eyes are brown. The female has more than one form and usually has yellow-green or green spots that are sometimes blue.

BEHAVIORS
Adults are active from June through September. They regularly perch on the trunks of trees. Males fly along the edge of the water body and over stands of grasses and sedges. Eggs are laid in the stems of bur-reed and pondweed above but close to the water's surface. Adults feed in open areas away from water. They catch insects in flight and may eat their prey in flight. Nymphs eat insects and a variety of other small animals.

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Odonata
Family: Aeshnidae