Yesterday as I was exploring a creek in Prince William County, Virginia I spotted this large damselfly. I marveled at its beautiful coloration and was happy to be able to capture an image that shows it off well. At the time I took the photo I was not certain of the species, but when I returned home and looked in my damselfly book, I learned that it is a male Powdered Dancer damselfly (Argia moesta).
As a Powdered Dancer male gets older, its thorax and the tip of its abdomen become covered with a powdery blue or gray substance in a process known as pruinescence. Eventually the male will look almost white, which makes it even easier to identify. So many damselflies have a lot of blue on their bodies that it is hard for me to be confident in my identification when I see a damselfly with blue coloration.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
Very nice photograph! We may be at the southern edge of its range so now I’ll be on the lookout for a mature male. Seems like that very light appearance will be diagnostic.
I think I may have shot a more mature male later in the day that is almost completely white. I will have to check my images and see what I may find.
Oh no!! I so resemble the term Pruinesence
Remove the i in that word, and you have the essence of me!
🙂