Powdered Dancer

Here's a damselfly ("don't call us dragonflies") I don't notice a lot, the Powdered Dancer. Though they have the title of "largest dancer in NJ", that's a lot like being the largest dogwood in the forest; there's a lot of trees (or odonates) that are bigger. And their grayish ashy look actually camouflages pretty well against rocks.

At first I thought I was taking a picture of only 1 of them, but if you look closely you'll see what looks like more eyes near the end of the abdomen. There's more to this story.

July 26, 2022 at Washington Valley Park
Photo 222063583, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

And when I got a slightly sideways view, it was clear that not only were there 2 Powdered Dancers there, but they were also mating. This is called a mating wheel, where the male (in front and ashy gray) clasps onto the head of the female with the end of his abdomen, and then the female (in the back and green/brown) uses her abdomen to acquire his sperm. The male may stay attached to the female while she lays her eggs on surface vegetation. (My understanding is that the vegetation is just a good place for unhatched eggs to develop; damselfly naiads are predators with no interest in eating vegetation.)

July 26, 2022 at Washington Valley Park
Photo 222063594, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)


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