Paddle-tailed darner

{{short description|Species of dragonfly}}

{{Speciesbox

| image = Aeshna palmata 20190824.jpg

| image_caption = Male

| status = LC

| status_system = IUCN3.1

| status_ref=Paulson, D. R. (2009). [http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/164945/0 Aeshna palmata]. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2014.2.

| taxon = Aeshna palmata

| authority = Hagen, 1856

}}

The paddle-tailed darner (Aeshna palmata) is a species of dragonfly in the family Aeshnidae. It is common throughout western Canada and United States.Dunkle, S.W., Dragonflies through Binoculars: A Field Guide to Dragonflies of North America. New York:Oxford University Press, 2000.Mead, Ken (2009). Dragonflies of the North Woods. 2nd edition. Duluth, MN:Kollath+Stensaas. This species is named after its distinctive paddle-shaped appendages. It lives in many habitats, particularly lakes, ponds, and slow streams, usually with dense shore vegetation.Paulson, Dennis (2009). [https://books.google.com/books?id=wnX1nJSmFfAC Dragonflies and Damselflies of the West]. Princeton University Press. {{ISBN|1400832942}}. p. 221 Aeshna palmata was scientifically described for the first time in 1856 by Hermann Hagen.