9 August 2024
Two weeks ago you may have seen videos on the Internet of a giant swarm of dragonflies at a Rhode Island beach on 27 July. The swarms at Westerly and South Kingstown were thankfully brief.
Entomologists identified the bugs as blue dashers (Pachydiplax longipennis) which spend their lives at quiet freshwater ponds and marshes but will swarm to seek out new ponds when their population is high. The 27 July bugs were on the move to somewhere else.
Blue dashers are common in the U.S. and are expanding into southern Canada. The males are gorgeous blue with green eyes, while the females and young males are black and yellow.
NBC 10 WJAR explains why the bugs visited the beach with on-the-spot videos from the day of the swarm.
Learn Why were there swarms of dragonflies in Rhode Island? at WPRI.com.
Every year there comes a time when dragonflies appear at the Waterworks Mall near Aspinwall. I notice them dipping their abdomens onto shiny car hoods, thinking the shiny surfaces are water…are they trying to lay eggs?
Dragonfly Haiku
Strip-mall parking lot
Shiny hoods draw dragonflies
Searching for water