Austroaeschna anacantha (Tillyard, 1908)
WESTERN DARNER
Family Telephlebiidae
This is an endemic dragonfly of Western Australia.
How lovely to celebrate a family wedding in such a beautiful place as Injidup, south of Perth in Western Australia. There is not much fresh water around here and the few dragonflies I saw were not far from the property’s water tank. These dragonflies were Australian Emeralds and Blue Skimmers. So on our last day here I was quite surprised when my new daughter-in-law non-chalently told me that there was a dragonfly on the spare tyre of her 4WD. It was a large dragonfly that I later found out was the Western Darner – Austroaeschna anacantha – and the only member of the family Telephlebiidae that resides in Western Australia!
