The green darner dragonfly (Anax junius) is common across North America and is the state insect of Washington. It is one of 5,000 dragonfly species but has some unique properties that make it a “mosquito hawk.”
The green darner dragonfly gets its name from its long, thin, needle-like body that resembles a darning needle. These dragonflies begin life as eggs in quiet, fresh water. The female attaches the eggs to plants underwater. She will drop them into shallow water if there are no plants available. Eventually, the eggs hatch into a nymph stage.
The green darner dragonfly can stay in the nymph stage for a few days or as long as four years until it attaches itself to a plant above water. Then, an adult dragonfly will emerge in a few days and leave behind the nymph skin, called the exuvia.
The adult dragonfly’s primary food is mosquitos, devouring vast numbers of them. The design of the green darner dragonfly’s two huge compound eyes consists of thousands of telescopic lenses, giving it a 360-degree field of view. It also has three simple eyes, which all work together. The individually powered wings are two inches long, allowing the insect to hover or travel in a straight line at roughly 10 miles per hour.
If weather becomes an issue, green darner dragonflies will migrate south, as monarch butterflies do, producing offspring in Mexico, the Caribbean, or the southern United States. Like monarch butterflies, the offspring of the green darner dragonflies will fly back to the north, but unlike monarchs, they eat vast numbers of mosquitoes as they travel.
These multi-generational insect migrations show system design. One generation does not live long enough to complete the migration, and the insects can’t teach their eggs and larvae what to do and where to go. The migrations benefit the balance of nature in the various ecosystems more than the insects themselves. Mere chance is not an adequate explanation. We suggest that the green darner dragonfly is another evidence of a Creator.
— John N. Clayton © 2024
Reference: Linda Weiford in The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Washington.