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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Dragonflies and Damselflies (Odonata) » Damselflies (Zygoptera) » Narrow-winged Damselflies (Coenagrionidae) » Dancers (Argia) » California Dancer (Argia agrioides)
Photo#826130
Blue in a brown land - Argia agrioides - male
Copyright © 2013 John F. Carr

Blue in a brown land - Argia agrioides - Male
Los Penasquitos Canyon, San Diego County, California, USA
August 17, 2013
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Contributed by John F. Carr on 17 August, 2013 - 8:00pm
Last updated 19 August, 2013 - 11:15am

Moved
Moved from Narrow-winged Damselflies.
… John F. Carr, 19 August, 2013 - 11:15am login or register to post comments

Probably - Argia agrioides (male)


Per Paulson (1) - individuals with stripes on abdominal segment 2 (S2) should be Argia agrioides as opposed to A. nahuana which has a subapical black spot on S2.
Your damselfly clearly has a stripe on S2.
Note that Dennis Paulson looked at image 256459 and agreed it was A. agrioides.
… William Edwards, 18 August, 2013 - 4:21pm login or register to post comments

 
Same as the brown one?
Is the nearby brown damselfly the female of the same species?
… John F. Carr, 19 August, 2013 - 11:14am login or register to post comments

 
Might be Argia agrioides but.....
Per Paulson (1) - the main distinguishing characteristic, in the females, is how the middorsal carina splits before (A. agrioides) or after passing the mesostigmal plates (A. nahuana).
The females must be captured and examined with at least a hand lens.

So even though your photo is very good it is probably not possible to separate the females of these two species from a photo.
… William Edwards, 19 August, 2013 - 4:41pm login or register to post comments

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