AMERICAN RUBYSPOT Hetaerina americana

DRAGONFLIES AND DAMSELFLIES OF WEST VIRGINIA SPECIES PAGE

This beautiful damsel is difficult to mistake for any other species in our area. If you have a damselfly with a brightly colored thorax and a bright red spot at the base of the wings, you have an American Rubyspot.

Males usually have a bright metallic red thorax, with creamy colored striping. Occasionally the male's coloration is more of a reddish bronze than bright red. Females have green metallic thoraxes, or else bronzy green.

The spot at the base of the wings is usually bright red in the male. Females may have a red spot too, but more often their spot is a subtle amber.

Don't hang around ponds looking for this one. While occasionally found at large lakes, its most typical habitat is a sunny riverbank. You will find the American Rubyspots perched on plants along the bank, or on emergent rocks in the river itself.

One of the nice things about American Rubyspots is that they have a long flight season, at least June to September in West Virginia and possibly earlier and later as well.

Male American Rubyspot. While some individuals may exhibit bronzy red coloration, this one sports brilliant red on his face and on most of the thorax. Note the black legs and brown eyes.

This male American Rubyspot has a bronzy red on his thorax, rather than bright metallic red.

The female American Rubyspot replaces the male's reds with bright green or bronzy green. This coloration is not only on the thorax, but on the dorsal surface of the abdomen as well. On this individual, the spot on the base of the wings is more amber than red. Note how much thicker the female's abdomen is here, compared with that of the male (see top photo on this page).

This female American Rubyspot has brilliant metallic green coloration on the face and thorax and on the top of the abdomen. It also sports a bright red spot at the base of its wings, and white stigmas.

All images on this page are © Stephen Cresswell.

This page is now included as part of the Insects of West Virginia website.