Yesterday on a photo expedition with some friends to Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden in Richmond, Virginia, I encountered a stunningly beautiful purple damselfly with gorgeous violet eyes that rival those of the late Elizabeth Taylor. I don’t think that I had ever seen a purple damselfly or dragonfly before and the striking purple color is wonderfully set off by its black markings and blue band at the end of its abdomen.
Fellow blogger and local dragonfly expert Walter Sanford has identified this for me as a Violet Dancer damselfly (Argia fumipennis violacea), a subspecies of the Variable Dancer (Argia fumipennis).
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
Looks like a hat pin. I guess I’m dating myself with that comment …
You’re dating yourself only a little, Dan, though I suspect that women don’t use them at all any more. The color combination, however, would definitely make a good fashion accessory.
Now thats a pretty damsel, excellent shot..
Wow, Mike, what a color! Truly extraordinary. 🙂
Great photo mike wonderful color and clarity
This one is particularly beautiful with that purple body against the green leaves!!
That is the most beautiful dragonfly I have ever seen.