POWDERED DANCER Argia moesta

DRAGONFLIES AND DAMSELFLIES OF WEST VIRGINIA SPECIES PAGE

The Powdered Dancer is an interesting species. The male has a mostly white head and thorax, the only such species that lives in our region. Moreover, this is one of the few damselfly species where the female is more colorful than the male. In addition, the female comes in two very distinct color variations.

Watching Odes at ponds, you would seldom or never encounter a Powdered Dancer. Begin watching at rivers, however, and this species is one of the first you will encounter. The species also appears occasionally at large lakes with rocky shores.

The male is a dark-colored damselfly, which develops extensive pruinosity as he matures. (Pruinosity is a waxy, light-colored substance that builds up on a damselfly's body, obscuring whatever coloration lies beneath.) In the photo above, the male's black and brown coloration is starting to be obscured by the white pruinosity.

As for females, some are light blue on the head and thorax, and might almost be mistaken for a male or female Blue-Fronted Dancer. Male Blue-Fronted Dancers would have a blue tip to the abdomen, however. A female Blue-Fronted Dancer would be mostly black on top of the abdomen, and the sides of abdominal segment nine would be darker.

Females also appear in a brown variation, which may have greenish overtones to it.

This male has some dark coloration still visible on the sides of the thorax. As this individual ages those dark areas will turn lighter, while the legs will darken to a uniform black.

There is no particular pattern on the male's abdominal tip; just pruinosity that increases with age.

Here again is a younger individual, with some dark areas visible on the sides of the thorax, and light areas on the legs.

Like the thorax, the face is soon covered with pruinosity.

The blue color variety of the female Powdered Dancer. Note that unlike the female Blue-Fronted Dancer, the female Powdered Dancer has lighter coloration on top of the abdomen, not black.

A male Powdered Dancer in tandem with a brown form female. This may be preliminary to mating, or to oviposition (eggs are laid with the pair in tandem). Note that the female has some greenish overtones.

All images on this page are © Stephen Cresswell.

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