Aeshnids facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Aeshnids |
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| Tasmanian darner (Austroaeschna tasmanica) | |
Scientific classification  |
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Odonata |
| Infraorder: | Anisoptera |
| Superfamily: | Aeshnoidea |
| Family: | Aeshnidae Rambur, 1842 |
| Genera | |
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See text. |
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The Aeshnidae family includes amazing insects called dragonflies. You might know them as hawkers or darners. These dragonflies are some of the biggest you can find. They are especially large in places like North America and Europe.
Contents
About Darners
Darners are known for their impressive size and flying skills. They are found almost everywhere in the world.
What They Look Like
Darners have long, thin bodies, called abdomens. Many are bright blue or green, often with black or yellow markings. Their eyes are huge and round, covering most of their heads. These large eyes give them excellent eyesight.
Some darners are truly giant! For example, the Anax tristis from Africa can have wings that spread over 125 millimeters (about 5 inches) wide. That makes it one of the largest dragonflies on Earth.
Amazing Flyers
Darners are incredible flyers. They spend a lot of time in the air. They have four big, strong wings that always stay spread out flat. They can fly forward, backward, or even hover in one spot, just like a helicopter! Because they fly so well and have such good eyesight, they are very hard to catch.
What They Eat
Darners are fierce hunters. They eat other insects, catching them right out of the air. They have sharp mouthparts for biting their prey. Because they eat many insects, they are very helpful to humans.
Life Cycle and Reproduction
Dragonflies mate while flying. After mating, the female darner lays her eggs in or near water. Her abdomen looks a bit like a sewing needle. She uses it to cut into plant stems to lay her eggs safely inside.
The young darners are called larvae or naiads. They live in the water. These larvae are usually long and slender. They have a special lower lip that can stretch out to grab food. Young darners are also hunters, eating other water insects and even tiny fish.
Types of Darners
There are many different kinds of darners around the world. For example, North America has 41 known species in 11 different groups, called genera. Many European darners belong to a group called Aeshna.
The name "Aeshnidae" might have come from an old printing mistake. It was probably meant to be "Aechma," which means "a spear" in Greek. Even though the family name is Aeshnidae, some of the group names, like Rhionaeschna, still use the 'sch' spelling.
See also
In Spanish: Ésnidos para niños
