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Argia vivida
Vivid 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

© George Doerksen     (Photo ID #1011)

Map

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Distribution of Argia vivida 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 bright blue; female is brown or blue. The top of the thorax has a black stripe at least as wide as adjacent pale stripes. Length: ♂ 34 mm, ♀ 35 mm.


Flight Period

B.C., early May to mid October.

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

Rare. Associated with cool or hot springs. The larvae live in the pools and outflow streams that are smaller and more vegetated than those preferred by Emma's Dancer. The small populations of Vivid Dancers may be vulnerable to disturbance of their tiny scattered habitats. Spring-fed streamlets in dry forests and grasslands are often polluted and trampled by cattle. Most populations live in hot springs, which are almost always developed by people.

Distribution


Montane. Southern B.C. from the Coast Mountains to the Rockies.

Status Information

Origin StatusProvincial StatusBC List
(Red Blue List)		COSEWIC
NativeS2S3BlueSC (May 2015)



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