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Posts Tagged ‘Violet Dancer’

Simple geometry

Posted in Autumn, damselfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , , , on October 1, 2025| 10 Comments »

Do you have a favorite damselfly? I have had the opportunity to photograph some pretty spectacular damselflies, but I am irresistibly attracted to the unique coloration of the Violet Dancer damselfly (Argia fumipennis violacea), a subspecies of the Variable Dancer damselfly (Argia fumipennis). In fact the banner photo for my blog page includes a photo of a beautiful Violet Dancer, so my fondness for this species is not exactly a secret.

Maybe I am a little weird for having a favorite damselfly. If that is what you think, perhaps you have forgotten what it is like to view the world as a child as I try to do. Years ago I remember reading a Reader’s Digest article that included the following Tweet, “I like having conversations with kids. Grown-ups never ask me what my third favorite reptile is.” That Tweet (or whatever they are called now) captured my feelings really well

I spotted this colorful little damselfly last Friday (26 September) as I was exploring a small pond at Jackson Miles Abbott Wetland Refuge. I was a little surprised, but very much delighted to see the Violet Dancer so late in the season.

I did not dare lean over the edge of the pond for fear of falling in, but I really like the long distance shot that I was able to capture. The simple lines of the vegetation and the dark pond waters help to draw the viewer’s eyes to the Violet Dancer, even though it occupies only a small portion of the frame.

As I get older I find that I care less and less about what others think about me. Dare to be weird today!

violet dancer

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Violet Dancer damselfly

Posted in damselfly, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , , on May 29, 2024| 8 Comments »

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,

Violet Dancer

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Violet Dancer damselflies

Posted in damselfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , , , on May 31, 2023| 2 Comments »

Some of you may have noticed that the banner photo for this blog shows a beautiful purple damselfly, one of my favorite insects. The intense purple is really striking and is not a color that I seen very often when I am looking for wildlife to photograph. The official species name for the damselfly is Variable Dancer (Argia fumipennis), though I prefer to use the colorful and descriptive name of its most common subspecies, the Violet Dancer (Argia fumipennis violacea).

Last Thursday I was delighted to spot numerous Violet Dancers in the vegetation along the edge of a small pond at Jackson Miles Abbott Wetland Refuge.  I even managed to photograph one on the trail surrounding the pond, as you can see in the first photo in which the damselfly is perched on a small stone. For the other two shots, I was much farther away from the damselfly. These damselflies like to perch on vegetation that overhangs the water, so I shot from a distance to avoid slipping into the pond, which has happened on occasion in the past.

Violet Dancer

Violet Dancer

Violet Dancer

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Violet Dancer

Posted in damselfly, Dragonflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on June 13, 2022| 17 Comments »

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.

Variable Dancer

Variable Dancer

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Violet Dancer damselfly

Posted in damselfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, Summer, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , , , on July 29, 2021| 16 Comments »

Do you have a favorite damselfly? I have photographed some pretty spectacular damselflies, but I have to admit that I am irresistibly attracted to the unique coloration of the Violet Dancer damselfly (Argia fumipennis violacea), a subspecies of the Variable Dancer damselfly (Argia fumipennis). As some of you may know, the normal banner photo for my blog page includes a photo of a beautiful Violet Dancer, so my fondness for this species is not exactly a secret.

Some of you may be thinking that I am a little weird for having a favorite damselfly. If so, you may have forgotten what it is like to view the world as a child as I try to do. A recent edition of Reader’s Digest included the following Tweet that captured this feeling perfectly, “I like having conversations with kids. Grown-ups never ask me what my third favorite reptile is.”

I spotted this colorful little damselfly on Tuesday as I was exploring a small pond at Jackson Miles Abbott Wetland Refuge. After some recent rainstorms, the waters of the pond were quite muddy, which accounts for the unusual color of the background of the image. I though about cropping in a little closer on the damselfly, but I like the blurred vegetation on the right side of the image.

Violet Dancer

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Violet Dancer

Posted in damselfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, Summer, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , , , on June 30, 2018| 4 Comments »

On Monday I was thrilled to get a shot of one of my favorite damselflies at Occoquan Regional Park, the beautifully colored Violet Dancer (Argia fumipennis violacea), a subspecies of the Variable Dancer damselfly (Argia fumipennis). I love the color combination of this tiny beauty, a spectacular shade of violet on its body and the wonderful blue accents. Sharp-eyed viewers may have noted that a photo of this same type of damselfly has been my banner image for quite some time.

Violet Dancer

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Perched on me

Posted in Dragonflies, Humor, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, tagged , , , , , , , , , on September 14, 2016| 10 Comments »

Not all people like to have insects perch on them, but I thought it was pretty cool when an inquisitive Variable Dancer damselfly (Argia fumipennis) landed on my hand Monday at Jackson Miles Abbott Wetlands Refuge. The real challenge was getting a photo of the damselfly shooting one-handed with my DSLR and 180mm macro lens.

Sharp-eyed readers may have recognized that this is the same species of damselfly as the one featured in my blog’s banner. I just love the beautiful purple markings of this damselfly, which is also known as a Violet Dancer (Argia fumipennis violacea), if you use the name of the sub-species.

It was interesting trying to get shots as I tried to hold my left hand still and slowly extended my arm out as far as it would go. The damselfly was relatively cooperative, but moved about a little as it explored my hand. Steadying my shooting hand was an even bigger challenge. Normally I like to try to get as close to parallel with a damselfly’s body as possible, so that most of it will be in focus, but that was not possible in this situation, given the anatomical limitations of the human body.

Looking at these images, I have reached a sad conclusion—I am going to have to give up on my dream of becoming a professional hand model.

Variable Dancer

Variable Dancer

Variable Dancer

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Violet Dancer damselfly

Posted in Dragonflies, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, tagged , , , , , , , , , on August 17, 2014| 7 Comments »

Yesterday on a photo expedition with some friends to Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden in Richmond, Virginia, I encountered a stunningly beautiful purple damselfly with gorgeous violet eyes that rival those of the late Elizabeth Taylor. I don’t think that I had ever seen a purple damselfly or dragonfly before and the striking purple color is wonderfully set off by its black markings and blue band at the end of its abdomen.

Fellow blogger and local  dragonfly expert Walter Sanford has identified this for me as a Violet Dancer damselfly (Argia fumipennis violacea), a subspecies of the Variable Dancer (Argia fumipennis).

purple_blog

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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