Description: Males: Eyes blackish-blue above, light blue below. Vertex black, large postocular spots and occipital bar blue. Frons, anteclypeus, postclypeus, genae, maxillae, and labrum blue;
labium light blue; antennae and dorsal rear of head black. Thorax.- Pronotum black with a large lateral blue spot, posterior black dorsally, bright blue laterally. Humeral stripe forked dorsally. Abdomen. -Bright blue, S1 bright blue with wide dorsobasal black spot; S2 blue with three unequal black areas laterally. S3-6 bright blue with black lateroventral area about 1/4 the segment length and black basal rings; S7 black with bright blue basal ring; S8 bright blue, black ventrolaterally; S9 bright blue with an obscure black spot laterally. S10 light blue dorsally, laterobasal black area saddle-shaped with ends extending upward to dorsum apically and basally. .
Female Polymorphic. Eyes brown body blue or brown. Thorax patterned as in male but humeral stripe often partially obsured brown. Abdomen pale, middle segments with two pairs each of dorsolateal and ventrolateral long oval spots on each; spot joined to make most of S7 black; S8-10 most pale, black low on sides of S8.
Size: Total length: 30-34 mm; abdomen: 24-27 mm; hindwing: 19-21 mm.
Similar Species: Only other male drancers along southern Arizona border with same abdominal pattern of dark markings both fore and aft on middle segments are Apache, Kiowa, Spine-tipped, and Springwater Drancers. Kiowa and Sprinwater both violet. Apache differs form Yaqui in reduced anterior spot on middle abdominal segments and very small black spot those with spotted S4-6 and unmarked S8-10. From Tarascan by wider, forked humeral stripe, and form Sabino by less developed fork.
Habitat: Shallow, slow-flowing sandy and rocky streams, small to medium in size, with shrubby or open borders and often abundant emergent vegetation such as grasses and watercress.
Natural History: The first adults are visible in the morning and their numbers gradually increase during the day. Subsequently, solitary females and mated pairs appear. To the noon and begin to ovipositar in aquatic macrophytes.
Distribution: This species was considered endemic of Mexico, but was registered in Arizona in 2004. Arizona; Mexico Sonora to Oaxaca.
Source:
Behrstock, R. A., D. Danforth y S. Upson. 2004. Yaqui Dancer (Argia carlcooki, Daigle 1995), new distributional records for Northern Mexico and the U.S. Argia 16:11-16.
Daigle, J. J. 1995. Argia carlcooki spec. nov. from Mexico (
Paulson, D. 2009. Dragonflies and Damselflies of the West. Princeton University Press. 536 pp.
Edited by Juan Cruzado (12/22/2016)
