I was delighted to spot this handsome male Blue-fronted Dancer damselfly (Argia apicalis) on Thursday during a quick visit to Jackson Miles Abbott Wetland Refuge. This species is not rare, but I do not see it very often at my favorite locations for dragonflies and damselflies. It is pretty easy to identify a Blue-fronted Dancer because, as its name suggests, its thorax is almost completely blue, with only a few hairline shoulder stripes.
According to Wikipedia, the damselflies in the genus Argia, are commonly 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.
Blue-fronted Dancers are quite small, about 1.5 inches (38 mm) in length, so it was quite a challenge to get this one in focus as he perched on some vegetation close to the ground. I am pretty sure that I switched to manual focus for this shot, because the autofocus of my camera has trouble staying on such a narrow subject and kept trying to focus on the ground.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
Beautiful.
Officially jealous.
Nice find and photograph!
Thanks, Wally. I am pretty lucky to live in an area where we have so many different species of dragonflies and damselflies.
Sharp eye and sharp focus – great capture!
Thanks. Manual focus is a bit tricky with a digital camera, but I think that I am getting better at it with practice.
Nice capture, Mike! I love that brilliant blue and that you got a shadow on the blade of vegetation. The second, smaller blade of green that intersects the wings is a nice accent, too.