Day 245#: Powdered Dancer
Today's animal of the day is the Powdered Dancer (Argia moesta)!
Photo credit: Peter Wchen
This species of damselfly can be found throughout most of the United States as well as in some parts of southern Canada, and is most commonly seen around the rocky shores of rivers, streams, and lakes. They get their name from the powdery bluish-gray color of the male, which becomes more ashy as they get older. Their species name, moesta, means "sorrowful" and is a reference to Ash Wednesday, when Christian denominations dust ash on themselves to express sorrow and mourning for Jesus' execution.
Photo credit: Peter Wchen (blue morph female)
Females come in two different color morphs, brown and blue, and lack the ashy coloring of the males, which makes them look much more brightly colored. The blue female color morph looks very similar to the females of another species of damselfly, the blue-fronted dancer. However, the two species can be differentiated by the number of cells they have below their stigmas (the group of cells on their outer wings). Powdered dancers have two cells below their stigmas, while blue-fronted dancers only have one.
Photo credit: Peter Wchen (brown morph female)
Damselflies and dragonflies look very similar, since they are both members of the order Odonata, inhabit similar environments, and fill similar niches. However, damselflies belong to the suborder Zygoptera, while dragonflies are a part of Epiprocta. Damselflies also tend to be smaller and more slender than dragonflies and fold their wings parallel with their bodies when resting, while dragonflies hold theirs flat and away from their bodies.
Photo credit: Pete Woods
Like dragonflies, damselflies also start out their lives as nymphs that live in the water before undergoing metamorphosis and moult out of their nymph form and into their flighted adult form. Both their nymph and adult forms are active predators that will chase down and eat other species of insects, such as mosquitoes, gnats, flies, worms, and tiny crustaceans. Adults are most commonly seen from June to August, but in the southern part of their range they can be seen all year round.
Photo credit: Peter Wchen
The adults have a rather strange-looking mating strategy, where the males will use their claspers at the end to grab the female between her head and thorax. The female will then bend her abdomen and connect it to either the 2nd or 3rd segment of the male's (which is where his sperm is stored). Once this heart-shaped "mating wheel" has been formed, both participants will change color and often remain attached for a while so the male can guard the female while she lays her eggs into an aquatic plant using her long ovipositor.
