Variable darner
Aeshna interrupta
The variable darner is a big dragonfly from North America. Many males have broken stripes on the sides of their chest, as if someone painted them with dashes. It zooms over ponds catching insects.
Lives in
North America, from Alaska and Canada to the mountains of the western United States
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. Dragonflies have no sting, so just enjoy watching it fly.
What does it eat?
Like all dragonflies, it catches other flying insects in the air. Its babies live under water and hunt there.
How fast is it?
A kid running fast about 13 km/h (8.1 mph)
A grown-up on a bike about 25 km/h (16 mph)
Variable darner about 40 km/h (25 mph)
A car driving in town about 50 km/h (31 mph)
cool stuff
Fun facts
1
It got its name from the broken stripes on the sides of the male's chest.
2
It lives in many wet places, from mountain bogs to cattail marshes and puddles that dry up.
3
It is the typical dragonfly of ponds out in the grasslands.
you asked
Most asked questions about Variable darner
?Where does the variable darner live?
In North America, from Alaska across Canada and south to New Mexico, Arizona and California.
?Do dragonflies sting?
No. Dragonflies have no sting and are harmless to people.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Aeshna interrupta
- Group
- Dragonflies and damselflies
- Family
- Aeshnidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Odonata > Aeshnidae
- Lives on
- North America
Where the facts come from
- Variable darner (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by JeffreyGammon. CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
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