Blue-ringed dancers (Argia Sedaka) are pretty little damselflies that are common around slow moving water. Specifically, you can usually find them around lakes, ponds, retention areas, slow streams and rivers, and even roadside ditches if vegetation is present. Theses images are actually from last year when I took a trip out to Henry Beck Park. The park has a beautiful, slow moving stream that runs through the center of it, and the dragonflies and damselflies were abundant. As you can see, these damselflies show sexual dimorphism, a common trait in dragonflies and damselflies. The male has the beautiful bright blue and black striped thorax, while the female has either black and white or dark brown and white stripes. These guys are pretty small; usually only about a half inch long. They can be found in the southeastern United States up into southern New England area with a spike that goes into southern Ontario. I haven’t made it out to Henry Beck so far this year, and the sandhills are much to dry for these guys, so I haven’t seen any this year, but I do plan to get out there before the end of summer. I’ll be interested to see how their populations are doing. This summer seems to have been a good one for dragonflies and damselflies in the places I have been, including on my own little slice of Florida.