The genus Argia, commonly known as dancers, is a large New World group of damselflies. Although the genus name Argia, αργία in Ancient Greek, is translated as “idleness,” dancers are quite active and alert damselflies, according to Wikipedia. Why are they called “dancers?” They are known as dancers “because of the distinctive jerky form of flight they use which contrasts with the straightforward direct flight of bluets, forktails, and other pond damselflies.” I wonder if I am part damselfly, because “distinctive” and “jerky” are definitely adjectives that could be used to describe my attempts at dancing.
This past week, I have seen three different species of dancers. The first one, the Variable Dancer (Argia fumipennis violacea) has perhaps the most strikingly beautiful color of any of the dragonflies and damselflies that I have seen—I love that shade of violet. Some of my longtime readers may have noted that a photo of a Variable Dancer has been the banner image for this blog for many years.
The damselfly in the second image is a Blue-fronted Dancer (Argia apicalis). The thorax of the males of this species are almost completely blue, with only hairline stripes in the middle of their backs and shoulders.
The final damselfly is a Powdered Dancer (Argia moesta), our only mostly white damselfly. As you can see in the photo, members of this species often like to perch on stones at the edge of the water. I chose to leave this image mostly uncropped, because of the way that it shows the water moving around the stone and the submerged stones on the stream bottom in the background.
All of this talk of dancers brings to mind a country music song that I really like by Lee Ann Womack called “I Hope You Dance.” I am really touched by the basic message of the song—when you get the choice to sit it out or dance, I hope you dance.
Here is the first verse of the song, just in case you have never heard it:
You get your fill to eat but always keep that hunger
May you never take one single breath for granted
God forbid love ever leave you empty handed
Whenever one door closes I hope one more opens
Promise me that you’ll give faith a fighting chance
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
That’s a favorite song. I suspect you’ve seen the official video, but I’m linking it in case you haven’t. It’s beautifully done.
What a sweet video–I love seeing her interactions with her children. Thanks for sharing the link. I don’t think that I have seen that video before, only videos of Lee Ann Womack singing the song.
Great photos, Mike, but that first one is over-the-top beautiful.
Mike, this beautiful post of yours has brought lovely joy to this day. I love, love that song, and your photographs are gorgeous. You are a talented photographer!
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This post was a feast for the senses today, Mike. I thoroughly enjoyed learning about the dancer damselflies, and chuckled at your ruminations on being part damselfly. Really loved your photos, capturing the brilliance and beauty of this incredible creature. And the song lyrics were a great treat for me, thanks for the introduction to this song. Warmest thanks, my friend.
Very Nice Mike! Great images & information!
A wonderful post which has helped an already good day be even better!
I’ve been chasing dragons the past few days and will soon hopefully find a few of these jeweled beauties performing their delicate ballet. Superb photographs!
Now I have that song playing in my head – not a bad thing!
Love the color of that first one!
Thanks. The violet color is truly amazing to see. I can’t recall any other insect that has that color.
I thought it was blue but it’s still beautiful.
Nice images Mike and a great message in that song. The verse that particularly resonates with me is “I hope you never lose your sense of wonder”.
Thanks, Chris. Another one of my readers shared with me the link to the official music video of the song, in which the beautiful images add to the power of those lyrics. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RV-Z1YwaOiw&feature=youtu.be)
Thanks for the link, Mike- very nice.
That is an amazing violet! And in the enlarged view, the sparkliness on the leading edge of the wings looks like ground abalone shell. And there’s that streak of ruby again, too! In the third, I like that you didn’t crop it; the blue waterline reflection is a very nice touch.
Thanks, Gary. Variable Dancers are only about 1.3 inches long (34 mm) and I love the way that my macro lens lets me highlight those wonderful colors and details that you noted and share them with folks who have never seen or never looked closely at such a beautiful creature.
Oh, and thanks for commenting on my decision not to crop–I felt pretty comfortable with that call, but it is reassuring to know that you felt the same about the waterline.
Love the colour and sparkliness! Beautiful post all-up Mike thank you!
Wonderful post.
Variable, Blue Fronted, Variable, Blue Fronted. I cannot decide which one I like the best!
Dance on!
Thanks, Molly. It’s probably easiest to love them all, like I do. I don’t think that it applies to people quite so well, but the song that suggests that, “If you can’t be with the one you love, love the one you’re with” seems to applies really well to my little damselfly friends. 🙂