One of the coolest, most colorful damselflies in our area is the violet subspecies of the Variable Dancer (Argia fumipennis) that is often called the Violet Dancer (Argia fumipennis violacea). I spotted these handsome male damselflies last Thursday in Prince William County and love the way I was able to capture some of the texture of their environment, especially in the first photo.
Some of you may have noticed that I have had a photo of a Violet Dancer as the banner for this blog for quite a number of years. This coloration of this damselfly is so strikingly different from the various shades of blue of most damselflies that it made an immediate impression on me the first time that I photographed one.
I need to update many aspects of my blog page format, including the information in the “About Me” section, but I am still pretty comfortable with having a Violet Dancer being the first image that viewers see when they access my page.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
As far as I know, we don’t have any with this color.
Most damselflies where I live are a combination of black and blue, but I have seen others that are brown, yellow, orange, and red–as far as I know this is the only violet one.
Wonderful colour!
Thanks, Louella.
Beautiful colors. Great photo Mike. I also quite like the name of this damselfly.
Thanks, Suzette. Damselflies in the genus Argia are known by the whimsical name of 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. 🙂
Ah good information Mike. Thank you.
I did recognize it as similar to the banner image. I like it. I also like the intersecting lines in the upper photo.
Thanks, Dan. I really like the composition of that image with the branches of different sizes giving a kind of geometric feel to the shot.
The markings really are beautiful colours.
Vivid coloring 😃😃.
The first time I saw one of these I somehow called it a “Violent Dancer” as if it would be slam dancing. It’s a beauty
Violent Dancer? That sure conjures up a different image than I had in my had. I personally never “got” the whole idea of slam dancing. 🙂
Nor did I. Mosh pits either.
Very nice image Mike!
Very nice Damsel image Mike!
[…] I did a posting featuring a beautiful Violet Dancer (Argia fumipennis violacea), the uniquely purple damselfly that […]