During a visit to Jackson Miles Abbott Wetland Refuge last Friday I spotted this beautiful little damselfly. Initially I could not identify the damselfly, though I could tell that it was a female. Just as with dragonflies, the males of most damselfly species tend to be more colorful and much easier to identify.
After searching through my damselfly identification guide, I concluded that this was probably a female Blue-fronted Dancer damselfly (Argia apicalis) and my identification was confirmed on Facebook by a much more experienced dragonfly/damselfly lover.
For the sake of comparison, I am including an image of a male Blue-fronted Dancer that I photographed in August 2025 at the same location. When I compare the two photos, I realize how much I tend to rely on colors for my identifications of species and how often I have difficulties when the color cues are absent.
There are, of course, other clues to look for, like the marking on the thorax, the eye colors, and the abdomen colors, but these features force me to look really closely and intently, most often after I get home rather than out in the field. As I have noted in the past, I tend to follow the law of the Wild West, “Shoot first and ask questions later.”
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 