Comet Darner vs River sheoak

Anax longipes compared with Casuarina cunninghamiana

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Comet Darner	River sheoak
Kingdom	Animalia (Animals)	Plantae (Plants)
Phylum	Arthropoda (Arthropods)	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)
Class	Insecta (Insects)	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)
Order	Odonata (Odonata)	Fagales (Beeches & Oaks)
Family	Aeshnidae	Casuarinaceae
Genus	Anax	Casuarina
Species	Anax longipes	Casuarina cunninghamiana

Conservation Status

Comet Darner

LC — Least Concern

River sheoak

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Comet Darner	River sheoak
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Comet Darner

Habitat

Typically found in virtually all terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

Range

Found in United States.

River sheoak

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, montane grasslands and shrublands, and deserts and xeric shrublands, among 5 distinct biome types spanning the Australasia and Afrotropic and Indomalayan realms. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Widely distributed across Africa (11 countries), Asia (8 countries), Europe (5 countries), North America (4 countries), Oceania and the Pacific (Vanuatu), and South America (4 countries).

Comet Darner

<em>Anax longipes</em>, the comet darner, is a large dragonfly in the family Aeshnidae, assessed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. It is endemic to the United States, where it inhabits lakes, ponds, and slow-moving rivers with clear water and abundant emergent vegetation. The comet darner is one of the largest North American dragonflies and is distinguished by its brilliant coloration, including a green thorax and a red-spotted abdomen in mature males. The species name longipes refers to its notably long legs. Adults are powerful aerial predators, feeding on a variety of flying insects captured in flight. Larvae are aquatic and predatory, developing in the benthic zone of freshwater habitats where they feed on invertebrates and small vertebrates. The comet darner undertakes seasonal dispersal movements and is most commonly observed near its breeding water bodies during the warmer months.