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Sticker of Aztec dancer
Bug card No. 0239 of 4,939

Aztec dancer

Argia nahuana
Name means: “named after the Aztecs and the Nahua people of Mexico”

The Aztec dancer is a slim damselfly. The male is bright blue, with pale blue legs and a blue ring near the end of his long tail. The female looks similar but is mostly light brown.

Lives in
South-western United States and Mexico, along clear, sunny streams
Top speed
about 10 km/h (6.2 mph)
Flying, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. Damselflies have no sting and cannot hurt you.
What does it eat?
Like other damselflies, it catches small flying insects. Its babies live under water and hunt tiny water animals.
For real!Photo of Aztec dancer
Picture by Gaberlunzi (Richard Murphy). CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

It likes clear, shallow streams in full sunshine, with few plants along the edges.

2

Until 1958 scientists thought it was just a kind of California dancer. Then it became its own species.

3

It has a dark black stripe on the side of its chest that splits in two, like a fork.

4

People have spotted it less often in recent times: 115 sightings up to 1975, but only 35 since 1980.

you asked

Most asked questions about Aztec dancer

?Where does the Aztec dancer live?

In the south-western United States, such as California, Arizona and Texas, and in Mexico.

?Is the Aztec dancer dangerous?

No. Damselflies have no sting and are harmless.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Argia nahuana
Group
Dragonflies and damselflies
Family
Coenagrionidae
Classification
Insecta > Odonata > Coenagrionidae
Lives on
North America

Where the facts come from

  1. Aztec dancer (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
  2. Picture by Gaberlunzi (Richard Murphy). CC BY-SA 3.0, 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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More from the same group: Dragonflies and damselflies

Also at home here: Ponds, rivers and shores

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