The generic name Anax is from the ancient Greek ἄναξ, "lord";[3] the specific epithet imperator is the Latin for "emperor", from imperare, to command.

[4] This dragonfly has a wide distribution through Afroeurasia; it is found throughout Africa and through most of Europe, the Arabian Peninsula, and south-western and central Asia.

Males have a bright sky blue or turquoise abdomen marked with a diagnostic black dorsal stripe.

They frequently fly high up into the sky in search of prey, which includes butterflies, other odonata and tadpoles.

The dragonflies breed in a variety of aquatic habitats from large ponds to dikes and slow-moving rivers, but require a plentiful supply of vegetation in the water.

The aquatic larvae are very aggressive and are likely to influence the native species composition of freshwater ecosystems they arrive in.

[5] For comparison, the human mitogenome has 16,569 bp[13] and the closely related dragonfly Anax parthenope has 15,366.