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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Dragonflies and Damselflies (Odonata) » Damselflies (Zygoptera) » Narrow-winged Damselflies (Coenagrionidae) » Dancers (Argia) » Blue-ringed Dancer (Argia sedula)

Species Argia sedula - Blue-ringed Dancer

Blue-ringed Dancer - Argia sedula - male Blue-ringed Dancer - Argia sedula - female What dancer? - Argia sedula - male Dragonfly3 - Argia sedula - male Blue-ringed Dancer - Argia sedula - male Young Blue-ringed Dancer? - Argia sedula - male Blue-ringed Dancer - Argia sedula - male Damselfly - Argia sedula
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Odonata (Dragonflies and Damselflies)
Suborder Zygoptera (Damselflies)
Family Coenagrionidae (Narrow-winged Damselflies)
Genus Argia (Dancers)
Species sedula (Blue-ringed Dancer)
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Argia sedula (Hagen, 1861)
Explanation of Names
Species name is from Latin sedulus, meaning zealously (Internet searches).
Size
Length 31-36 mm
Identification
Male has black abdomen with blue rings. Resembles a bluet, but abdominal segment 2 mostly black, has wide black, forked, shoulder stripe. Thorax of male darkens during tandem oviposition. Some southern populations have slight tinting in wings. Female is brown, rather weakly marked.
Range
southern two-thirds of US, with a small "hump" in the northeast that reaches into southern Ontario and Michigan
more common southward in east
Habitat
Rivers, streams, lakes, ditches with aquatic vegetation. Perch often on vegetation in shade, unlike most other dancers (1).
Season
March-November (Texas); June-October (Virginia); June-September (Ontario)
Food
Predatory on small insects
Life Cycle
Oviposit in tandem into aquatic vegetation.
Print References
Abbott, pp. 83-85, photo 10d (1)
Dunkle, Damselflies of Florida, p. 89, figs. 66-67 (2)
Lam, p. 49 (3)
Nikula, p. 67 (4)
Internet References
TAMU
RLE Photo
NJ Odes
Odonata Central--Texas
Works Cited
1.Dragonflies and Damselflies of Texas and the South-Central United States
John C. Abbott. 2005. Princeton University Press.
2.Damselflies of Florida, Bermuda, and the Bahamas
Sidney W. Dunkle. 1991. Scientific Publishers.
3.Damselflies of the Northeast
Ed Lam. 2004. Biodiversity Books.
4.Stokes Beginner's Guide to Dragonflies
Donald and Lillian Stokes. 2002. Little, Brown and Company.
Contributed by Cotinis on 9 March, 2004 - 4:30pm
Additional contributions by Mike Boone, Robin McLeod
Last updated 10 July, 2010 - 9:58am

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