08/24/2026
Monarch butterflies aren’t the only Oregon insect that completes a remarkable multi-generation, annual migration – the green darner dragonfly does too!! Many of Oregon’s dragonflies remain as year-round residents, but the green darner dragonfly travels from Mexico to southern Canada and back again. It takes them three generations to complete this journey!
- Spring/Early Summer: First generation adults migrate from southern overwintering sites northward, where they breed, lay eggs, and then die.
- Summer: Second generation eggs hatch and the larvae develop in northern freshwater habitats.
- Late Summer/Early Fall/Fall: New second generation adults emerge in northern regions and eventually migrate southward toward overwintering grounds where they lay their eggs and die.
- Winter: The hatched eggs become the third generation that spends it’s whole life in southern refuges. They do not migrate but the eggs they lay become the next generation.
- Following Spring: Cycle repeats with a new generation continuing the northward migration.
Migrating green darner dragonflies are present in Oregon July through October. All along their journey these beautiful, predatory insects play a key ecological role by controlling mosquito and small, flying insect populations, as well as by providing food for many.
Learn more: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/dragonfly-undertakes-epic-multi-generational-migration-each-year-180971190/
Photo: A vibrant colored green darner dragonfly rests on a branch. Credit: Tina Shaw/USFWS
