violet dancer - Species Profile
Conservation • Description • Habitat • Ecology • Distribution • Taxonomy
Conservation Status
IUCN Red List
LC - Least Concern
NatureServe
N5 - Secure
Minnesota
not listed
Description
Violet dancer is a common, small, easily identified, narrow-winged damselfly. It occurs in the United States east of the Rocky Mountains, in southern Quebec and Ontario Canada, and in Mexico.
Violet dancer adults are found from late June through September near clear, slow streams, stream backwaters, and ponds, with stony or clay bottoms and thick vegetation along the borders.
Adults are 1⅛″ to 1⅜″ (29 to 35 mm) in length. The male is a striking, vibrant purple, though the shade can shift toward a deep violet depending on the angle of the sun.
On the male, the thorax is mostly purple, with a black shoulder stripe on each side that is split (forked) at the rear. Abdominal segments 1 through 6 are mostly purple above with a narrow black ring at the rear. Segment 7 is mostly black with a narrow purple ring at the front. Segments 8, 9, and 10 are entirely powder blue above. The wings are clear except for a single black cell (stigma) on the leading edge.
Young males are violet blue.
On the female, the thorax is brown, and the shoulder stripes are forked as in the male. The abdomen is mostly brown with a black longitudinal stripe on each side.
Size
Total length 1⅛″ to 1⅜″ (29 to 35 mm)
Similar Species
Habitat
Slow streams, stream backwaters, and ponds, with stony or clay bottoms and thick vegetation along the borders
Ecology
Season
Late June through September
Behavior
Life Cycle
Late stage (instar) larvae overwinter
Naiad Food
Adult Food
Flying insects
Distribution
Sources
Biodiversity occurrence data published by: Minnesota Biodiversity Atlas (accessed through the Minnesota Biodiversity Atlas Portal, bellatlas.umn.edu. Accessed 3/24/2026).
Argia fumipennis violacea (Hagen, 1861) in GBIF Secretariat (2023). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org. Accessed 3/24/2026.
Abbott, J.C. 2006-2026. OdonataCentral: An online resource for the distribution and identification of Odonata. Available at https://www.odonatacentral.org/. (Accessed: 03/24/2026).
Occurrence
Common
Taxonomy
Order
Odonata (Dragonflies and Damselflies)
Suborder
Superfamily
Coenagrionoidea
Family
Coenagrionidae (Narrow-winged Damselflies)
Genus
Argia (Dancers)
Species
variable dancer (Argia fumipennis)
Subordinate Taxa
Synonyms
Common Names
violet dancer
