Swarm of dragonflies sends beachgoers running for cover

Beachgoers were lounging on their towels and playing in the ocean when a dark cloud appeared on the horizon. But this wasn’t your typical rainstorm—it was a massive swarm of dragonflies! 

A sunny summer Saturday at Misquamicut Beach in Westerly, Rhode Island, where sunbathers were soaking up rays turned into adrenaline-fueled spectacle when a swarm of dragonflies took everyone by surprise, causing many to run for cover.

"I've never seen anything like this in my life," a woman filming the wild scene said from behind her camera.

The dragonflies swooped down like tiny fighter jets, zigzagging through the air. Some sunbathers ducked while others waved their arms frantically, trying to fend off the winged invaders.

“Dragonfly swarms are big groups of dragonflies that are typically feeding on little prey insects,” Christine Goforth, head of citizen science at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences told WBUR. “So you can get anywhere from a dozen to millions or even billions of dragonflies flying together in these big groups.”

Goforth studies massive swarms of dragonflies that form when large groups of the colorful, aerial insects pause their migration to feed, and this is the time of year the migratory species head southward. Swarms can be so large they show up on weather radars, Goforth said.

"It looks from radar data that the dragonflies got caught up in a 'sea breeze front' which formed near shore and moved northwestward," AccuWeather Meteorologist and Digital Producer Jesse Ferrell explained.

"Sea breeze fronts carry with them whatever is in the air, including insects, sea spray, or pollen. Larger bugs often show up on radar as weak echoes because they are close to the size of a raindrop," Ferrell added.

So next time you’re at the beach, keep an eye on the skies. You never know when a dragonfly squadron might drop in for a surprise visit!

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