Bug FAQCanada Darner
Aeshna canadensis · Order: Odonata · Family: Aeshnidae
Canada darners are large, slender dragonflies about 6.4 to 7.3 cm long, dark brown with blue or green markings that differ between sexes. They live in northern North America, breeding in lakes, ponds, bogs and beaver ponds, and adults are seen from June through October, especially on sunny evenings.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Adults are dark brown with pale blue markings in males and yellow-green to blue markings in females.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
They measure between 64 and 73 mm from head to tip of the abdomen.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
Larvae develop in lakes and ponds, especially in bog and beaver ponds. Adults often gather in feeding swarms in clearings and along roads in the early evening away from breeding sites.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
Most of their life is spent as aquatic nymphs, with larvae remaining underwater for one or two winters before emerging.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
Adults are active from June through October, with breeding adults most active in sunny weather.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
They are common across southern Canada and the northern United States, from Newfoundland and New Jersey eastward to Yukon westward.
Source: Wikipedia
Lookalikes
The green-striped darner looks similar but has green thorax stripes, while the lake darner is larger with a dark facial stripe.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 27 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Michigan, Vermont, Minnesota, Maine, New York, Wisconsin, New Hampshire, Oregon.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Status: native in North America; native in United States; native in Canada. Source: iNaturalist
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
More photos
Questions people ask
When can I expect to see Canada darners?
Adults are typically seen from June to October, especially on sunny evenings.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Aeshnidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeshna_canadensis
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-22 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.