Comet Darner

Anax longipes · Order: Odonata · Family: Aeshnidae

No source yet on danger. We have no source yet on whether it bites, stings or damages anything.
Comet Darner
Photo: mmp133, CC BY

The comet darner is a large dragonfly. Females show a brownish abdomen with blue spots. It lives in shallow lakes and ponds with abundant vegetation and no fish. Its range includes the eastern United States, from Missouri and Michigan up through New England.

Source: Wikipedia

Size

The comet darner is a large dragonfly.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it comes from

They occur along the eastern United States, from Missouri and Michigan up through New England.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it is found in the US

Recorded in 34 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Ohio, Texas, New Jersey, Florida, Michigan, Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina.

Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.

Source: GBIF

Status: native in North America; native in Canada; native in United States. Source: iNaturalist

Months it is reported in the US

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Source: GBIF

More photos

Comet Darner photo 3
Photo: rasamoto, CC BY
Comet Darner photo 4
Photo: Judy Gallagher, CC BY-SA
Comet Darner photo 5
Photo: unknown, CC0
Comet Darner photo 6
Photo: J_Daring, CC BY

Same family (Aeshnidae)

Common Green DarnerCommon Green DarnerAnax juniusSouthern HawkerSouthern HawkerAeshna cyaneaHarmlessBlue EmperorBlue EmperorAnax imperatorMigrant HawkerMigrant HawkerAeshna mixtaBlue-eyed DarnerBlue-eyed DarnerRhionaeschna multicolorShadow DarnerShadow DarnerAeshna umbrosa

Sources

  • Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet_darner

Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia

Text written 2026-10-23 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-23.

How this page works

This is one bug's fact sheet. The colored box at the top says whether it is dangerous. Sections below cover how to recognize it, whether it is a pest, and how to deal with it. The US map shows which states have records; tap a state to see other bugs there.

Every fact on Bug FAQ comes from a named source (university extension sites, government agencies, GBIF, iNaturalist, Wikipedia). The source is linked next to each section. If we have no source for something, we leave it out.