Identification

Field Marks

• Average adult size is approximately 3.0 inches
• Eyes green over brown
• Face pale green
• Front thoracic stripe is green with shallow notch at the top
• Front thoracic stripe has flag at the top which extends behind and widens at the end
• Rear thoracic stripe blue-green at the top and green at the bottom
• Blue abdominal spots
• Paddle style claspers

Field Marks

• Females come in three color forms; green, yellow-green or blue
• Blue form is uncommon
• Cerci are longer than segments 9 and 10 combined
• Cerci are often broken off on mature specimens

Similar Species

• Canada Darner
• Green-striped Darner has a shallower notch on front thoracic stripe and a smaller spot in between thoracic stripes than the Canada Darner
• Lake Darner
• Green-striped Darner is smaller than the Lake Darner
• Green-striped Darner has a shallow notch in front thoracic strip where Lake Darner has more of a divot
• Lance-tipped
• Green-striped Darner males do not have downward spike on end of claspers like Lance-tipped Darner
• Green-striped Darners do not have rear flag at top of 2nd thoracic stripe like Lance-tipped Darner

Behavior

Males spend much of their time in flight, patrolling lakeshores and river and stream edges, and catching prey and eating it while flying. They will sometimes join feeding swarms made up of several species of dragonflies. At night they often perch on tree trunks

Habitat

Ponds, small lakes, slow rivers and streams. Often associated with sedges

Reproduction

Mating takes place near water. Female oviposits eggs one at a time in the stems of aquatic vegetation just above or just below the waterline