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Vivid Dancer - Argia vivida
General Description
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Species Range
Montana Range
Range Descriptions
Native
Observations in Montana Natural Heritage Program Database
Number of Observations: 117
(Click on the following maps and charts to see full sized version)
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Relative Density
Recency
(Observations spanning multiple months or years are excluded from time charts)
Habitat
Vivid Dancer habitat includes vegetated spring-fed streams, seeps, and pools, as well as small streams with emergent vegetation and a riparian component, hot springs and irrigation canals with flow (Westfall and May 1996, Nikula et al. 2002, Acorn 2004, Paulson 2009). Habitats with sedge vegetation and rocks, as well as nearby woody vegetation are important for roost sites (Paulson 2009).
National Vegetation Classification System Groups Associated with this Species
Wetland and Riparian
Alkaline - Saline Wetlands
Alpine Riparian and Wetland
Peatland
Riparian and Wetland Forest
Riparian Shrubland
Wet Meadow and Marsh
Food Habits
Larvae feed on a wide variety of aquatic insects, such as mosquito larvae, other aquatic fly larvae, mayfly larvae, and freshwater shrimp.
Adult- This damselfly will eat almost any soft-bodied flying insect including mosquitoes, flies, small moths, mayflies, and flying ants or termites.
Reproductive Characteristics
Male Vivid Dancers tend to perch on rocks and shoreline areas awaiting females, but most pairs mate away from water. Copulation is lengthy with extended flying as a tandom afterward. Tandem pairs oviposit in the late morning usually below the waterline in the stems of aquatic plants. Single females oviposit later in afternoon (Paulson 2009).
Stewardship Responsibility
References
- Literature Cited AboveLegend:
View Online Publication
Nikula, B., J. Sones, D.W. Stokes, and L.Q. Stokes. 2002. Stokes beginner's guide to dragonflies and damselflies. Boston: Little, Brown. 159 pp.- Westfall, M.J., Jr. and M.L. May. 1996. Damselflies of North America. Scientific Publishers, Gainesville, Florida. 649 pp.
- Additional ReferencesLegend: View Online Publication
Do you know of a citation we're missing?- Acorn, J. 2004. Damselflies of Alberta: flying neon toothpicks in grass. Edmonton, Alberta: University of Alberta Press. 156 pp.
- Dunkle, S.W. 2000. Dragonflies through binoculars: A field guide to dragonflies of North America. New York, NY. Oxford University Press. 266 pp.
- Gore, J. A. 1976. In-stream flow requirements of benthic macroinvertebrates in a prairie river. M.A. thesis. University of Montana, Missoula, MT.
- Heaton, J.R. 1966. The benthos and drift fauna of a riffle in the Madison River, Yellowstone National Park. Ph.D. Dissertation. Bozeman, Montana: Montana State University. 59 p.
- Paulson, D.R. 2009. Dragonflies and Damselflies of the West. Princeton University Press, Princeton. 535 pp.
- Web Search Engines for Articles on "Vivid Dancer"
- Additional Sources of Information Related to "Insects"
