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Powdered dancer

Secure  ( NatureServe) [2]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Odonata
Suborder: Zygoptera
Family: Coenagrionidae
Genus: Argia
Species:
A. moesta
Binomial name
Argia moesta
( Hagen, 1861)  [3]
Range of A. moesta  [4]

The powdered dancer (Argia moesta) is a damselfly of the family Coenagrionidae. It is native to North America. It may be seen year-round in at least some of its range. [5]

Etymology

The common name refers directly to the male's pruinosity, appearing to be covered with a powdery blue or grayish substance. Older males are more pruinose, and may even be more ash white than blue. The specific epithet moesta, means sorrowful, [6]: 12  and may refer to customs (such as those on Ash Wednesday) of dusting oneself with ashes to express sorrow or mourning.

Description

Powdered dancer (Argia moesta)

Males have a blue tip at the end of the abdomen. Immature (freshly moulted, or teneral) males are tan to dark brown, turning darker with age and becoming almost completely whitish ( pruinose) at maturity. [7]: 62–63  Females come in blue and brown forms based on the color of the thorax, which has hair thin dark shoulder stripes. [8] The blue form female is very similar to the female blue-fronted dancer; a key to separating these two is the number of cells below the stigma: our species has two cells below the stigma where a blue-fronted dancer has one. [9]

  • teneral male
    teneral male
  • mature male
    mature male
  • brown form female
    brown form female
  • blue form female
    blue form female

Breeding

During mating, a male uses claspers at the end of his abdomen to grab a female between the head and thorax, forming a tandem. The female then bends her abdomen to engage segments 2–3 of the male, where sperm is stored, forming a heart-shaped "mating wheel". Both sexes can change color during mating. [7]: 5–6  [10] The pair often remains attached until eggs are laid by the female. The female finds a shallow aquatic plant and uses her ovipositor to insert her eggs in dead or live tissue while guarded by her mate. [11]

  • pair in tandem
    pair in tandem
  • mating wheel
    mating wheel
  • ovipositing
    ovipositing

References

  1. ^ Paulson, D.R. (2017). "Argia moesta". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2017: e.T165038A65827364. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T165038A65827364.en. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
  2. ^ NatureServe (2 June 2023). "Argia moesta". NatureServe Network Biodiversity Location Data accessed through NatureServe Explorer. Arlington, Virginia: NatureServe. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
  3. ^ "Argia moesta". Integrated Taxonomic Information System.
  4. ^ "Distribution Viewer". OdonataCentral. Retrieved December 5, 2009.
  5. ^ Abbott, John C. (2005). Dragonflies and Damselflies of Texas and the South-Central United States. Princeton University Press. pp. 77–78. ISBN  0-691-11364-5.
  6. ^ Paulson, Dennis R.; Dunkle, Sidney W. (12 February 2021) [Originally published June 1999]. "A Checklist of North American Odonata" (PDF). Jim Johnson. Retrieved 6 June 2023 – via Odonata Central.
  7. ^ a b Dubois, Bob (2005). Damselflies of the North Woods. Kollath-Stensaas Publishing. ISBN  0967379377.
  8. ^ "powdered dancer (Argia moesta)". MinnesotaSeasons.
  9. ^ "Argia moesta Powdered Dancer". Wisconsin Odonata Survey. Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.
  10. ^ Suhling, Frank; Sahlén, Göran; et al. (2015). "Chapter 35 - Order Odonata". In Thorp, James H.; Rogers, D. Christopher (eds.). Thorp and Covich's Freshwater Invertebrates (Fourth ed.). Elsevier. pp. 893–932. doi: 10.1016/C2010-0-65590-8. ISBN  978-0-12-385026-3.
  11. ^ Paulson, Dennis (2011). Dragonflies and Damselflies of the East. Princeton University Press. pp. 151–153. ISBN  978-1-4008-3966-7.

External links


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