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Argia emma
Emma's Dancer
Family: Coenagrionidae
Species account author: Robert Cannings.
Extracted from Introducing the Dragonflies of British Columbia and the Yukon (2002)
Introduction to the Odonata of BC
The Families of Odonata of BC


Photograph

© Ian Lane     (Photo ID #1458)

Map

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Distribution of Argia emma in British Columbia.
(Click on the map to view a larger version.)
Source: (for the static map) RBCM and BCCDC 2004 ©

Species Information


Description

Male is violet; female is normally brown. The top of the thorax has a narrow black stripe less than half as wide as adjacent pale stripes. Length: ♂ 36 mm, ♀ 37 mm.


Flight Period

B.C., early June to late September.

Genus Description


The largest pond damsels in B.C. Males are blue or violet, with black markings; females are the same, or olive and brown. Dancers usually develop in streams. Adults like to rest on bare sunny spots by the water. Larvae are stocky and squat, their gills unusually broad and pigmented. Adult dancers can be distinguised from bluets by isolated black marks on the sides of the abdominal segments and by a short black stripe on the side of the thorax, which narrows in the middle. The female has no vulvar spine in front of the ovipositor.

Biology

Family Description

Small damselflies that normally perch with wings closed above the abdomen. Most males are blue marked with black, but the main colour may be green, yellow, orange, red or purple. Females often have two colour forms per species, one similar to the male (usually blue). Females lay eggs in the tissues of water plants, sometimes completely submerging themselves for a long time while laying. Larave are not as long as spreadwing larave and have short labia, unstalked at the base. There are six genera and 18 species of pond damsels in our region. The American Bluets (Enallagma) and forktails (Ischnura) are the most common groups.
Field Notes

Common at scattered localities along rivers, creeks and sometimes, wave-washed lake beaches. The larvae lurk in debris and among plant stems in creek pools and under rocks in riffles.

Distribution


Montane. In southern B.C., from the Fraser Valley to the Shuswap and Kettle River regions.

Status Information

Origin StatusProvincial StatusBC List
(Red Blue List)		COSEWIC
NativeS3S4BlueNot Listed



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