Aeshna juncea (Moorland Hawker in Europe or Sedge Darner in the USA) is a very large hawker with a huge range: it can be found in most of the Palearctic area, all the way to Japan, as well as in northern North America.
Male Moorland Hawkers have a black abdomen adorned with a pattern of bright blue and yellow spots and a brown thorax with two yellow dorsal stripes on each side. The female has a brown abdomen with yellow spots.
Aeshna juncea‘s look-alike is A. subarctica (Bog Hawker or Subarctic Darner) which also shares much of its holarctic range.
in and around Europe
