Emperor dragonfly | |
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Male Tenerife, Spain | |
female Oxfordshire, England | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Odonata |
Infraorder: | Anisoptera |
Family: | Aeshnidae |
Genus: | Anax |
Species: | A. imperator
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Binomial name | |
Anax imperator Leach, 1815
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Synonyms[1] | |
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The emperor dragonfly[2] or blue emperor[1] (Anax imperator) is a large species of hawker dragonfly of the family Aeshnidae. It is the bulkiest dragonfly in most of Europe, including the United Kingdom,[2] although exceeded by the magnificent emperor (A. immaculifrons – very marginal range in Europe)[3] and in length by females of the golden-ringed dragonfly (Cordulegaster boltonii – a species with an unusually long ovipositor).[4]