Ogre Darner Dragonfly May 2026

This larval stage is extraordinarily long: (or possibly more). It’s a slow, patient, underground existence. Adult Behavior After half a decade underground, the mature nymph crawls out at night, climbs a fern or sedge, and emerges as an adult. The adult life, by contrast, is short—perhaps a few weeks to a month.

(often called "hanging swamps" or "soaks"). ogre darner dragonfly

Adults are , flying in dim light at dawn and dusk. They are strong, heavy fliers, patrolling low over their swampy breeding sites. Unlike many dragonflies that hawk prey high in the air, Ogre Darners hunt close to the ground, picking off other insects (flies, beetles, small moths) from the undergrowth. This larval stage is extraordinarily long: (or possibly

Ogre Darner nymphs are . They dig vertical, mud-lined tunnels—up to 30 cm deep—into the saturated peat of their seepage habitat. The nymph waits at the tunnel’s mouth with only its eyes and the tip of its extendable lower lip (labium) exposed. It ambushes passing invertebrates and even small tadpoles, dragging them into the burrow. The adult life, by contrast, is short—perhaps a