Argia fumipennis
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
The variable dancer (Argia fumipennis) is a damselfly of the family Coenagrionidae. It is native to North America, where it is widespread throughout the east and present in the interior western United States. The male of the subspecies A. f. violacea (the violet dancer) is purple with a blue tip. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Acadia National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Guadalupe Mountains National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Congaree National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Shenandoah National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Great Smoky Mountains National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Washington | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Baltimore | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Boston | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Orlando | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Toronto | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 6 | New York City | 🇺🇸 United States |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Variable Dancer sighting in Shenandoah National Park on a given day, based on 14 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 284th most-seen of the 723 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May–June and August–September
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Variable Dancer in Shenandoah National Park on a given day, against under 5% in July and October–April, the lowest months.
Between noon and 3 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Variable Dancer sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 5 parks where we can rate Variable Dancer sightings, Shenandoah National Park ranks 4th at about 10%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Acadia National Park (United States, about 10%), Guadalupe Mountains National Park (United States, about 10%) and Congaree National Park (United States, about 10%).
Same genus: Argia
The closest relatives of the Variable Dancer that you can see in Shenandoah National Park (genus Argia, Dancers) are Powdered Dancer (about 10%) and Blue-Fronted Dancer (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Variable Dancer is recorded against all the insects logged in Shenandoah National Park (14 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.
