Argia apicalis
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
The blue-fronted dancer (Argia apicalis) is a species of damselfly in the family Coenagrionidae, native to parts of North America. It was first described by the American zoologist Thomas Say in 1840. It is a common species with a wide range and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has assessed its conservation status as being of "least concern".
This damselfly ranges in length between about 33 and 40 mm (1.3 and 1.6 in). Most males have a blue thorax, the plates being separated by a few black lines, and also have a color-tipped abdomen, segments eight, nine and ten being bright blue. The remaining segments are dark brown. However the color of the thorax of Argia apicalis is variable and some males can be greyish-black rather than blue. They can change from one phase to the other and back again over the course of several days, with several intervening variations on the way; neither color phase seems to be particularly related to age or sexual maturity.
Females exhibit three thoracic color phases: brown, turquoise and grayish-black. Again the phase change often takes place in steps, and none of the phases seems to be associated with a particular age or... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Congaree National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Big Bend National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Great Smoky Mountains National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Shenandoah National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Houston | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Chicago | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Boston | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Washington | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Philadelphia | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Dallas | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Baltimore | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Austin | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Detroit | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Minneapolis [Saint Paul] | 🇺🇸 United States |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Blue-Fronted Dancer sighting in Shenandoah National Park on a given day, based on 8 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 447th most-seen of the 723 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May and July–September
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Blue-Fronted Dancer in Shenandoah National Park on a given day, against under 5% in June and October–April, the lowest months.
Between 11 am and 2 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Blue-Fronted Dancer sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 4 parks where we can rate Blue-Fronted Dancer sightings, Shenandoah National Park ranks 4th at about 10%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Congaree National Park (United States, about 10%), Big Bend National Park (United States, about 10%) and Great Smoky Mountains National Park (United States, about 10%).
Same genus: Argia
The closest relatives of the Blue-Fronted Dancer that you can see in Shenandoah National Park (genus Argia, Dancers) are Powdered Dancer (about 10%) and Variable Dancer (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Blue-Fronted Dancer is recorded against all the insects logged in Shenandoah National Park (8 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
