When a friend came to pick me just before sunset yesterday evening, we were both amazed to find the air thick with dragonflies. They were everywhere, and as we rode to our destination about five miles away, the dragonfly blitz continued. While it wasn’t unusual to see more than the average number of butterflies and other insects around my home (certified as both a monarch way-station and pollinator habitat), it was absolutely freaky to still be surrounded by dragonflies within such a distance. Both of us are nature-lovers and rather mystical, as well as being science-oriented. As we rode through swarms of dragonflies, oohing and aahing, we pooled our collective knowledge of entomology and myth, trying to make sense of what was surely a once or twice in a lifetime phenomenon. Was it an omen? Some sort of environmental disturbance? By the time we arrived at our destination, a bookshop/coffee bar located on an escarpment that is known for its singular weather conditions, no more dragonflies were to be seen.
Curiosity in full kill-the-cat mode, as soon as I got home I hit the internet, heartland for every kind of information/misinformation, and searched “dragonfly swarm”. There were several good articles but all at least three years old. Eventually a news item popped up, showing a weather radar map featuring huge blotches that were, yes, dragonfly swarms (along with other insects and some birds). The radar image of the swarms extended from Indiana, over Ohio, into Pennsylvania. There it was, even more intense than anyone could imagine!
Having worked for several years in the Entomology Department of Carnegie Museum, I already knew quite a bit about dragonflies but never heard of such a huge swarm. There are two reasons why dragonflies swarm: 1) migration; 2) prey. Or both combined. Almost everyone has seen a relatively small swarm hovering over a pond or even the backyard grass, stalking for food. The tri-state cloud, though, was a truly exceptional event. Indeed there was a weather front moving in, rain on the way after a few days of hot weather. Sometimes insects get trapped in a weather front, providing a feast for dragonflies. It was also right at dusk, when prey is most easily seen by dragonfly eyes because of the position of the sun on the horizon. At summer’s end, too, termites and gnats hatch in great numbers, favorite foods of the gossamar-winged predators.
Any combination of these conditions could have caused the dragonfly blitz. All science aside, it was a glorious sight. There is so much news lately about an “insect apocalypse” that it was heartening to see so many feeding on what must have been thousands of bugs. Something was right with the world for a change.
A few fascinating facts about dragonflies.
The ones we saw swarming were most likely darners, obviously named for their resemblance to darning needles. Some common nicknames for them include “Devil’s Darning Needles” after a folk belief that sassy children have their mouths sewn shut by dragonflies while they sleep, “Snake Doctors” based on a legend that dragonflies protect snakes by stitching up their wounds or even bring them back to life, and in Norway they are called “Oyenstikker” which translates to “eye-poker”.
Despite these weird nicknames, dragonflies are harmless and among the most beneficial insects to humans. In half an hour an adult dragonfly can eat its own weight in bugs. Their favorite foods are mosquitoes, gnats, flies, ants, and termites as well as (unfortunately) butterflies and moths. Sometimes they even eat other dragonflies.
One amazing feature of the dragonfly is the ability to hover. Having two pairs of wings enables them to do this and makes them the strongest flyers of all insects. They can even hover in strong winds.
Their eyes are amazing too. Compound eyes give them a 360 degree view of life. Their eyes are composed of 30,000 ommatidia, mini-eyes that each has their own cornea, lens and retina. They can’t see as clearly as we do but can see ultraviolet and polarized light which helps them navigate.
Dragonflies have six legs but can’t walk. They perch instead. Their legs are rounded into a basket-like shape that makes it easy to snare and eat prey while on the wing. Rarely does anything escape.
As for the omen meaning of dragonflies, naturally they symbolize the ability to change course quickly and adapt to circumstances with balance and poise. Seeing a dragonfly is supposed to mean transformation or change is coming, since they are creatures of metamorphosis. I’m not sure what a massive swarm of dragonflies can signify, though, except perhaps amplifying the usual interpretations by thousands, a mind-boggling omen to contemplate.
Green Witchery 