Blue-ringed dancer
Argia sedula
The blue-ringed dancer is a damselfly, a slim cousin of the dragonfly. As its name says, it has blue rings on its long, thin body. It flits over the water like a little dancer.
Lives in
North and Central America, near streams and ponds
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. Damselflies cannot sting and are no danger to people.
What does it eat?
Like all damselflies, it catches small flying insects. Its young live in the water and hunt tiny water animals.
How fast is it?
A person walking about 5 km/h (3.1 mph)
Blue-ringed dancer about 10 km/h (6.2 mph)
A kid running fast about 13 km/h (8.1 mph)
A grown-up on a bike about 25 km/h (16 mph)
cool stuff
Fun facts
1
It is a damselfly. Damselflies are thinner than dragonflies and many fold their wings along their body when they rest.
2
There are plenty of them, and scientists say the species is not in danger.
3
Warmer weather from climate change seems to change how big these damselflies grow in different places.
you asked
Most asked questions about Blue-ringed dancer
?Is the blue-ringed dancer a dragonfly?
Not quite. It is a damselfly, a thinner, more delicate cousin of the dragonfly.
?Does the blue-ringed dancer sting?
No. Damselflies have no stinger and are harmless.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Argia sedula
- Group
- Dragonflies and damselflies
- Family
- Coenagrionidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Odonata > Coenagrionidae
- Lives on
- North America
Where the facts come from
- Argia sedula (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Judy Gallagher. CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
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