After Samantha’s lovely post [mb] about the Lady Washington, I thought it might be nice to do some additional research of my own on some of our other state symbols. I don’t think there’s much to say about Walla Walla sweets except that they’re very tasty, but if you want to know more, you can always visit the growers’ association website. Apples (our state fruit) are yummy, too, but, again, what is there to say about apples besides “they’re really good and you should eat lots of them”? After considering various other symbols (our State Tartan, our State Grass), I decided to turn my attention to the State Insect.

Yeah, okay, I didn’t know we had a State Insect, either, until I looked up our State Symbols. (Did you know we have a State Marine Mammal? Or a State Fossil? We also have a State Flower, Tree, Bird, Song, Folk Song, Fish, Gem, and Dance, as well as the State Flag and Stage Seal that everybody has.) As it so happens, our State Insect is the Anax junius Drury, or, the Green Darner Dragonfly.

Dragonflies are pretty cool–they’re pretty and they eat a lot of irritating other bugs. The Green Darner can be recognized by its bright green head and thorax. Even for a dragonfly it’s on th big side with a four to six inch wingspan. The speedy little bugs can fly 25 to 35 miles per hour.