Stats

Lifespan

Annual

Size

Medium

Diet

Insectivore

Activity

Diurnal

Social

Solitary

Biome

Freshwater wetland

Range

North America

Movement

Flight

Breeding

Egg-laying

Defense

Speed

Status

Common

About

This damselfly lives near slow-moving streams and ponds across North America. Males use their hooked abdominal tips to grasp females by the neck during mid-air mating.

Life cycle

1. 1.
   egg

   A small egg is laid on or near the larval food source and hatches within days or weeks.
2. 2.
   juvenile

   An immature insect feeds and molts, growing through successive instars.
3. 3.
   subadult

   A near-adult insect has wing buds or near-mature form, one molt away from full size.
4. 4.
   adult

   Fully grown, with full wings and adult coloration.

Learn more

• View on iNaturalist →

Taxonomy

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Arthropoda

Class

Insecta

Order

Odonata

Family

Coenagrionidae

Genus

Argia

Species

Argia apicalis