Sabino Dancer (Argia sabino) September 16, 2018, Sycamore Canyon, Santa Cruz County, Arizona. Copyright Pierre Deviche.
February Species of the Month: Sabino Dancer Damselfly (Argia sabino)
DSA’s February “Species of the Month” is the Sabino Dancer damselfly (Argia sabino) in the family Coenagrionidae. It is 35-40 mm in length (about 1 ½ inches) and can be found in canyons with rocky plunge pools. Its range is limited to south in the Mexican uplands to Jalisco, Mexico, and into southern Arizona, according to Dennis Paulson in Dragonflies and Damselflies of the West. Join Arizona State University Emeritus Professor Pierre Deviche as he discusses this exciting species and some of its damselfly relatives.
Arizona Blues: Sabino Dancer and Some Look-Alike Congeners
Odonate species richness in the United States varies greatly from one region to another and is generally highest in the eastern half of the country (Abbott et al., 2022). From this standpoint, Arizona does not fare particularly well. One hundred and forty-nine species have been recorded in the state (Odonata Central). To compare, 197, 188, and 186 species have been documented in Virginia, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, respectively, despite Arizona being at least 60% larger than any of these states. Even within western states, Arizona does not shine with regard to its odonate richness (e.g., Texas: 251 species; New Mexico: 151 species; Table 1).
Table 1: Number of dancer (Argia) species and of odonate species recorded in the U.S., in selected western U.S. states, and in Sonora, Mexico. For each region, the table shows the ratio between the number of Argia species and the total number of odonate species. Data from Odonata Central, January 2025.
But! When it comes to comparing species richness at a finer scale, a remarkable exception to the above is provided by the dancers (Argia): 28 species, i.e., 78% of the species (36) found in the U.S., have been documented in Arizona. Perhaps more impressive, dancers represent 19% of the Arizona odonate species (Table 1). By comparison, this percentage for other western states is “only” 13% (New Mexico) and 9% (Texas). Even the state of Sonora (Mexico), which borders Arizona and has a great diversity of biotopes with northern and southern affinities including subtropical forests, has “only” 24 Argia species, although they comprise 23% of the number of odonate taxa found in this state (Table 1).
A number of Arizona locations have 13 Argia species or more, including: Muleshoe Ranch (Cochise County), Queen Valley (Pinal County), Sonoita Creek (Santa Cruz County), Bonita Creek (Graham County), and Lower Eagle Creek (Greenlee County).
Another eye-catching feature of the Arizona damselfly fauna is that nine Argia species have not been recorded elsewhere in the country. Two species are accidental (Yaqui Dancer, A. carlcooki [single record: Bailowitz et al., 2015] and Oculate Dancer, A. oculata [single record: Odonata Central record OC#473018]) but the others can be found regularly or more or less so in appropriate habitats: Cerulean Dancer, A. anceps, Harkness’s Dancer, A. harknessi, Sierra Madre Dancer, A. lacrimans, Pima Dancer, A. pima, Sabino Dancer, A. sabino, Tarascan Dancer, A. tarascana, and the recently described Marsh Dancer, A. paludicola (Garrison and Von Ellenrieder, 2022; Deviche and Garrison, 2022).
Several Arizona Argia species are widely distributed and occupy diverse habitats with running water. Such is, for instance, the case of the Lavender Dancer, A. hinei, Sooty Dancer, A. lugens, Aztec Dancer, A. nahuana, and Springwater Dancer, A. funebris. To our knowledge, however, four species (Marsh, Sabino, Pima, and Tarascan Dancers) have established populations only at a handful of discrete and in three cases, widely separated sites (Figure 1).
United States known distribution of four dancer (Argia) species as per Odonata Central, January 2025. Note: As per Bailowitz et al. (2015) the Sabino Dancer, Argia sabino, has been found also in the Galiuro Mountains (between Tucson and Safford) and the Santa Rita Mountains (south of Tucson), and the Pima Dancer, Argia pima, has been documented also in the Santa Catalina Mountains (just northeast of Tucson). Copyright Pierre Deviche.
The Marsh Dancer is morphologically distinct and contrary to the other species, it occupies high elevation (> 2,200 m) marshy habitats (Garrison and Von Ellenrieder, 2022; http://azdragonfly.org/species/marsh-dancer). Its field identification based on visual cues and habitat is, therefore, straightforward. The Sabino Dancer, along with the Pima Dancer, was not described until 1994 (Garrison, 1994). These two species are thought to be taxonomically closely related to each other but less so to the Tarascan Dancer (Caesar and Wenzel, 2009). The three dancers subtly differ with regard to the shape and width of humeral stripes as well as coloration of abdominal segments (Figures 2 and 3). As they also show considerable regional and/or individual variation (Burns, 2015; http://azdragonfly.org/news/individual-variation-humeral-stripe-tarascan-dancer-argia-tarascana),
it would seem that identifying them—especially females— in the field must present a major challenge. This is, however, not entirely the case. Indeed, the locations of their colonies do for the most part not overlap, i.e., most sites hold only one of the three species (Figure 1). In addition, each species appears to preferentially occupy a distinct habitat. Sabino Dancers are usually found at rocky perennial streams with cataracts and plunge pools (Paulson, 2009; Bailowitz et al., 2015). In contrast, Tarascan Dancers are partial to shallow pools of streams and rivers with overhanging vegetation, and Pima Dancers fancy rocky streams in forested areas (Paulson, 2009; Figure 4).
Male Sabino Dancer (Argia sabino) September 16, 2018, Sycamore Canyon, Santa Cruz County, Arizona; Tarascan Dancer (Argia tarascana), August 28, 2022, Muleshoe Ranch, Cochise County, Arizona; and Pima Dancer (Argia pima), August 6, 2018, Sonora, Mexico. Copyright Pierre Deviche.
Female Sabino Dancer (Argia sabino) September 9, 2017, Sycamore Canyon, Santa Cruz County, Arizona;, Tarascan Dancer (Argia tarascana), September 7, 2013, Muleshoe Ranch, Cochise County, Arizona; and Pima Dancer (Argia pima), August 10, 2020, Wet Beaver Creek, Yavapai County, Arizona. Copyright Pierre Deviche.
Typical Arizona habitat of (A) the Tarascan Dancer, Argia tarascana (May 29, 2016; Muleshoe Ranch, Cochise County, Arizona) and (B) the Pima Dancer, Argia pima (July 7, 2018; Wet Beaver Creek, Yavapai County, Arizona). Copyright Pierre Deviche.
The Sabino Dancer and its close congeners, the Pima and Tarascan Dancers, deserve special attention for another reason. It is already known that the Sabino Dancer’s local abundance fluctuates annually and presumably as a function of local changes in precipitation (Westfall and May, 2006). In the past 20 years the American Southwest has witnessed intense drought, resulting in landscape aridification and considerable stress on the water resources of this already dry region (Wahl et al., 2022). These authors consider it unlikely that recovery of the current moisture deficit will take place in the next decades. Compounding this effect, the region is experiencing climate warming and increased use of water resources associated with agriculture and rapid urbanization. Odonates depend on aquatic environments and the consequences of long-term drought conditions, climate warming, and human encroachment on their populations generally remain understudied.
The Sabino, Pima, and Tarascan Dancers occupy limited habitats and presumably have low ability for dispersal. These taxa may, therefore, be particularly sensitive to changes in environmental conditions, and their distributions and abundance warrant close regular monitoring. Could persistent region-wide drought in the coming decades lead to severe range shrinkage and, perish the thought, even extirpation of these species from the U.S. odonate fauna? Time will tell….
Fortunately, we are not there yet. A particularly enticing location to see Argia species is Sycamore Canyon (Santa Cruz Co.), which is in the heart of the Pajarito Mountains and extends into northern Sonora (Figure 5). The canyon has long been cherished by birders who visit it hoping to find rare species such as the Elegant Trogon, Rufous-capped Warbler, and Five-striped Sparrow. Odonates are well represented: 54 species have been documented including Mayan Setwing, Dythemis maya, Straight-tipped Ringtail, Erpetogomphus elaps, and White-tailed Sylph, Macrothemis pseudimitans (http://azdragonfly.org/locations/sycamore-canyon-santa-cruz).
Sycamore Canyon also stands out in other respects. It is one of the U.S. sites with the highest known richness in Argia. Fifteen species (i.e., > 40% of the U.S. taxa) have been recorded to date, among which the Oculate Dancer (only U.S. record) and the Cerulean Dancer (first U.S. record; Danforth et al., 2013), a species whose range has greatly expanded in the southern half of Arizona during the past 10 years. Sycamore Canyon also is one of the few U.S. locations holding a population of Sabino Dancers (Figure 1).
Next time you travel to Arizona during the summer, plan on visiting Sycamore Canyon and discover its rich odonate diversity. With luck on your side, you may chance upon some Sabino Dancers.
(A). View of the Pajarito Mountains and (B) Sycamore Canyon, Santa Cruz County, Arizona. Both photos September 23, 2007. Copyright Pierre Deviche.
Pierre Deviche is Professor Emeritus at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona, where he investigated physiological and behavioral adaptations of vertebrates to their natural environments and to urbanization. Contact him at deviche@asu.edu.
References
Abbott JC, Bota-Sierra CA, Guralnick R, Kalkman V, González-Soriano E, Novelo-Gutiérrez R, Bybee S, Ware J, Belitz MW. 2022. Diversity of Nearctic Dragonflies and Damselflies. Diversity 14, 575. https://doi.org/10.3390/d14070575.
Bailowitz, R, Danforth, D, Upson, S. 2015. A Field Guide to the Damselflies and Dragonflies of Arizona and Sonora. Nova Granada Guides, Tucson, Arizona, 459 pp.
Burns J. 2015. Variation in Cerulean Dancer (Argia anceps) in Costa Rica and Arizona. ARGIA 27: 17.
Caesar RM, Wenzel JW. 2009. A Phylogenetic Test of Classical Species Groups in Argia (Odonata: Coenagrionidae). Entomol. Americ. 115, 97-108.
Danforth D, Bailowitz R, Deviche P. 2013. Cerulean Dancer, Argia anceps, a new species for the United States. ARGIA 25: 10-11.
Deviche P, Garrison RW. 2022. Hidden in plain view: The discovery of the Arizona Marsh Dancer, Argia paludicola Garrison and von Ellenrieder. ARGIA 34: 30-35.
Garrison RW. 1994. A Synopsis of the Genus Argia of the United States with Keys and Descriptions of New Species, Argia sabino, A. leonorae, and A. pima (Odonata: Coenagrionidae). Trans. Amer. Entomol. Soc. 120: 287-368.
Garrison RW, Von Ellenrieder N. 2022. Damselflies of the genus Argia Rambur, 1842 (Odonata: Coenagrionidae) from Mexico, Central America and the Lesser Antilles with descriptions of five new species. Zootaxa 5201: 001–439.
Odonata Central: https://www.odonatacentral.org/#/
Paulson, D. 2009. Dragonflies and Damselflies of the West. Princeton Univ. Press, Princeton, NJ, 535 pp.
Wahl ER, Zorita E., Diaz HF, Hoel A. 2022. Southwestern United States drought of the 21st century presages drier conditions into the future. Comm. Earth Environ. 3: 202.
Westfall MJ, May ML. 2006. Damselflies of North America. Scientific Publishers, Gainesville, FL, 502 pp.
