Yesterday at Jackson Miles Abbott Wetland Refuge I spotted some Variable Dancer damselflies (Argia fumipennis), one of my favorite damselfly species. I never fail to be shocked and delighted by the brilliant purple of eyes and body of the male of the subspecies known as the Violet Dancer (Argia fumipennis violacea). Some of you may have even noticed that I have used an image of a Violet Dancer as the banner image for the home page of my blog for a number of years.
Dancers are a genus of damselflies named for the distinctive jerky form of flight they use which contrasts with the straightforward direct flight of many other pond damselflies. I must confess that I don’t pay much attention to the way that particular damselflies fly, but instead rely primarily on their coloration to identify them,
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Your favorites are my favorites, Mike. Thanks for this stunning violet beauty.
Thanks, Jet. I laughed when I read your comment and hope that is true for many others too. (I have favorite spiders and snakes too and know that some readers are so creeped out by those creatures that they could not imagine having favorite ones.) 🙂
Fabulous capture, Mike. I have never seen a violet one. What a beauty!
Thanks, Dina. One of the coolest things about having a community spread throughout the world is that we get to see and experience different plants, animals, and other creatures that we might never see for ourselves in person.
You have captured the beautiful colours of this damselfy beautifully.
Thanks so much, Laura. That violet is a really unusual and striking color that I do not often see on my wildlife subjects.
What a pretty color. Delightful!
Thanks. It is definitely an usual color to see in wildlife.