The Pygmy Dartlet is a very widespread species of damselfly, surprisingly enough. Measuring about 16 millimeters, Agriocnemis pygmaea is undoubtedly the smallest damselfly or dragonfly I’ve seen. The species is known to have many different appearances, with both male and female displaying up to three or four different color combinations. The male is pictured above, and the female below. 

For those of you unfamiliar with the metric system, 16 millimeters is pretty tiny. Most damselfly species (in my experience) average closer to 30-40mm. For a bit of reference, both to metric-savvies and not, here is a picture with a bit of a scale. The damselfly’s perch is about the size of a grain of rice.

Species like this make me step back and look at the big picture. What is this species’ purpose? With close to a dozen other species of damselflies and dragonflies hunting the same prey within a 20 meter radius, does this creature really fill some ecological niche? What does it do that no other organism does? And why, against all possible logic, is it so beautiful?