Botanical Glossary - Home

A male Paddle-tailed Darner at left, hovers close to the perched female. A few moments later, things got hot and heavy while these two flew off in tandem for awhile before perching on a branch at water side. After coupling for 10 minutes or so, the male casually flew off, while the female went onto the floating debris of Old Barge Slough to firmly attach a few eggs to bits of floating leaves.

Aeshna Palmata (Paddle-tailed Darner) in flight and at rest. The face is greenish-yellow with a black line, the rear of he head is black. Thorax stripes are almost straight, while the abdomen has pale spots on top, but none underneath. The male's stripes are yellow below and green or greenish above, abdominal spots are blue - the female has rust colored segments with pale spots and black lines. These are large, swift-flying and tireless dragonflies that hunt as adults over ponds, lake and streams in search for prey. Mosaic Darners are distinguished by the T-shape spot between the mandibles and compound eyes. They fly between May to November.