Holding a dragonfly
Yesterday I discussed a paper that looked into an interesting dragonfly behavior called accompanying wherein a dragonfly (or small group of dragonflies) follows a large, slow-moving animal because they stir up the little flying insects dragonflies like to eat. Today I want to talk about something even more bizarre, a sort of extreme accompanying behavior that three people over the last year have asked me about. I’ve never heard of this behavior before and I haven’t been able to find anything in the literature (though knowing the dragonfly literature, there might be some little nugget of information about this hidden in some completely unrelated publication), but I find it intriguing and wanted to share. Let me lay out the three stories.
A woman in the US wrote to me last summer to ask why the dragonflies in her area were always flying toward her. As she described it, dragonflies that were all the way across the yard would fly directly to her and hover right in front of her, even if she wasn’t moving around. Some of the dragonflies had even come into contact with her, either flying into her face or landing on her. It had happened so many times that her friends had started to comment about how odd it was that, even if several people were sitting on the patio together, the dragonflies would come straight to her and either hover near her or fly right into her while completely ignoring everyone else.
Dragonfly in hand. Photo by Penny McCoy.
I thought this story was a little odd, but I couldn’t explain it. In the back of my mind I thought that, because she didn’t like dragonflies, there was a possibility that she was mistaking a simple accompanying behavior for something more sinister. (It happens.) I told her about the accompanying behavior and she told me she thought her experience was something more. So I told her I’d keep any eye out for information about what was happening and would tell her if I learned anything. I looked around a bit for more information about this behavior and couldn’t find any, so I thought that was that.
At least it was for a while, because then I heard from person #2, another woman in the US who told me a story very similar to the first, except this woman had lots of dragonflies landing on her too. I didn’t get as many details from the second woman, but it struck me as odd that I’d now heard two similar stories about dragonflies getting really close to specific people. Dragonflies don’t usually come near people like that, so it was definitely a strange behavior.
Photo by Mary Hoch Kelley.
And then a few months later, I heard from a third person. This time it was a man from Canada with dragonflies coming toward him and landing on him like woman number two. However, the dragonflies weren’t leaving after they landed and would remain attached to his shirt. And they’d stay for a long time, becoming lethargic enough for him to actually pick them up and move them with his hands. If he pulled his shirt off or pulled the dragonflies off his shirt, he’d later find the dragonflies dead. This had started at a summer camp when he was young (five dragonflies became attached to his shirt and he didn’t notice them until some other people commented about his “passengers”) and has continued for several years. Though he’s not scared of them, he now avoids going near dragonflies entirely, darting away from them as most people do when wasps come near, to avoid further incidents. The man told me that he’d changed soaps, shampoos, laundry detergents, etc. many times over the years and didn’t think they were attracted to any cleaning products he used.
Now I’ll admit that I wasn’t sure about the first story. After all, the woman admitted that she was scared of dragonflies, so it was reasonable to think that she might have blown a simple behavior out of proportion. Still, I was struck by the notion that these dragonflies were actually getting close enough to touch her because that’s very unusual. When I got the second story, I was a little less certain that the first woman was reading too much into the dragonfly behaviors she was observing and started to think there might really be something to it. But now I’ve got three stories about people who have had dragonflies fly right up to them and land on them, three people in very different regions all experiencing a sort of ultra-accompanying behavior where the dragonflies seem to actually be attracted to these people.
Caught this damselfly when it landed on me.
I honestly have no idea what is happening, but three separate reports of similar behaviors make me think this might be some strange behavior that dragonflies very occasionally do. But what are the dragonflies responding to? And why do they only exhibit this behavior around a tiny handful of people? I would have thought that maybe they were responding to soaps or some other scent, but the one man had explicitly stated that he’d changed his soaps several times over the years he’d observed the behavior. It’s possible, though perhaps unlikely, that these people themselves are giving off some sort of unusual scent that the dragonflies are attracted to. Alternatively, other small insects might be attracted to these people for one reason or another and those small insects might attract the dragonflies. Mosquitoes are known to harass some people more than others based on the specific scents they give off, so it’s not outside the realm of possibilities. But none of these seem like satisfying explanations to me and don’t explain why the dragonflies would land on the people and sit there for any length of time. Very strange. Very strange indeed!
Now I’m curious about this behavior, but considering I’ve only heard three stories out of the nearly 3000 dragonfly swarms reports I’ve received, I have a feeling I’m never going to figure out the answer. So, if you or anyone you know has ever had this sort of experience with dragonflies, please share your stories! I’d like to figure out how widespread this behavior is and see if I can’t find some more commonalities between the people who have witnessed this behavior! This scientist really wants an answer…
Update, 12/26/15
So many people have commented about this post since I first wrote it! I still don’t know what’s going on with this, but I still read all the comments. I can’t respond to every one anymore as I get so very many, but please feel free to leave your story in the comments below. That way other readers can hear your story – and I’ll still see it, even if I don’t respond. Maybe someday your stories will help me explain what’s going on!
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This has happened to me recently! It’s a fairly new thing for me, however. I was in a Zoo in Florida when a dragonfly came and hovered above me. I put my hand out and it landed and stayed there for a good ten minutes before I shooed it away. My family was baffled but I shooed it off as Florida bug behavior. But then, Back in Michigan where I live, I was sitting on a raft in a lake when another dragonfly came and landed on me. Then again while I was driving to the dunes another landed in my car and stayed there. I hope this helps!
Interesting! Thanks for sharing your story and adding it to my collection here.
Last Friday at work I noticed a dragon fly inside our building. I tried to guide it out toward a window and it seemed to be noticing me but couldn’t trust me and flew off. yesterday at work here comes the dragon fly! This time he circles me and lands on my forehead. I walk to the window and slide him off to freedom. No pictures but four witnesses who think I am the dragon fly whisperer. Communication with all living creatures is not only possible , it’s impossible not to do.
I’m not fond of bugs…believe me…but, when we were visiting one of the battlefields in the southern states, I came upon a swarm of dragonflies…yes, I said a swarm as there must have been at least a couple dozen of them. They were so beautiful and I was so mesmerized that I just lifted my hands up in the air to them, palms up and they were just dancing in the palms of my hands. I could feel the ever-so-gentle flutter of their little legs and wings and it was a moment that held me completely mesmerized and frozen in that very moment. It was something that I did not want to leave. It was almost like a ‘bonding’ moment…so surreal, but it was something that I will never forget. I would also like to add…This happened as I was approaching a house that was on the battleground where a family lived. It was locked as it was under construction so we could only look in the windows. I wanted to take some pictures and the first one I took showed a reflection in the window so I took the second one with the camera pressed to the window to take the glare and reflection out. I took several. When I got to my computer and downloaded the pictures, one really stood out to me. Now, remember, I said the doors were all locked and I took all precautions on not getting reflections….well this picture I took was of a hallway and in it, it showed the door to the outside OPENED…and, you could actually see out the front of the house. I couldn’t believe my eyes. I’ve showed it to several people and they all saw the same thing! It truly was an amazing trip.
I would love to see that picture.. I believe you.
My friend and I were once attacked by several dragonflies, which still makes no sense to me. I didn’t even know they were capable of such behavior. They kamikaze dive bombed straight at our heads to the point where we had to duck them and run away. No one seems to have an explanation but it was very aggressive.
They do occasionally dive bomb people. Not sure why they do that though!
I live in las vegas nv and found your story on the web why I was looking for symbolism of Dragonflies. What started the search was I walked outside to have a smoke and there on my mermaid statue was a dragonfly tryed to take a picture but it moved and landed on my chair I got the pic how cool. So I told the Dragonfly I was going to have a cig was about to sit in a different chair and the dragonfly moved to the chair next to me. We sat there for a good hour.
Last summer a dragonfly tried repeatedly to come through my screened window. It hit my screen so many times I thought it would die from head trauma. So, I went out to the window and watched it for awhile then it flew right in front of me and stared for awhile then flew away. A couple of weeks ago, the same thing happened and again the other day. It is so strange to watch them do that. Does anyone know why a dragonfly would want to come into a house so badly?
Yes the same thing is happening to me at work I am a private nurse for a paraplegic patient. Out back of the house that is in a development in Florida there is a pond in the same dragonfly for the last few months is out on the back porch. It seems like it is vicious and it flies right into you so I have to move out of the way. About a month ago when we open the door it flew right into the house and just kept trying to fly into us and we were nervous. It ended up falling asleep on one of the cabinets and the next day we left the door open the dragonfly flew out. Well a month later in the late afternoon every time I open the door to go outside it seems like the dragonfly is trying to fly into my head although I have read these stories and it has never landed on me it is creepy because they come at a full speed. Just as I think it is going to fly into me it flies over my head it will turn around and come back and look like it’s going to start at me so I run in the house. We seriously are trapped in the house and can’t go out back because of this dragonfly that has been here for a few months. I was Googling it to see if they were vicious or some of them were vicious in any way because I think this is a very strange as well as odd behavior. Normally at my house dragonflies will fly around me and come close to me but not anything like this where they’re trying to fly into my head.
Omg, the same thing happened to me recently, but it wasn’t in my house it was in my car, as i walked to my car in the morning i saw a dragonfly near my car and i quickly got in, (bugs make me nervous) as i sat in my car, the dragonfly would not leave it, was infront of my windshield like it was looking at me and it was “trying”to get in to where it kept bumping into the glass, it kinda freaked me out and i started pulling out of my driveway and it stayed with me until i was able to take off. And TODAY which is two days later from the 1st incidence, i was going to lunch, when low and behold there are two dragonflies coming towards me, like really coming towards me, that sounds crazy but they really were, i ran to my car and took off.. I cant find anything online that explains this.
I just wanted to share a little odd thing that happened involving a Dragonfly….my husband & I were sitting on the front porch smoking a cigarette & noticed a Dragonfly flying around our porch light. I have always loved Dragonflies & always stop just to state at them when I have the opportunity. We had an empty bb container on the porch so I told my husband be as easy as he could & catch the Dragonfly. I checked it over & took pictures & decided to let it go out at the back of our property by the alley where we buried my my cat Romeo. We walk clear back there & I bent down to lay the container on the ground when all the sudden ANOTHER Dragonfly landed on the opposite hand!! I shook it off my hand only because it startled me lol then I mention to my husband “How crazy is that!? Two Dragonflies at 1am! This Dragonfly was not shy either, it was just crazy! It kept landing on me then would jump to my husband & back….it finally flew away so I bent down & let the other Dragonfly out of the container. It flew out, landed on me then my husband then finally flew to the ground & flew off. I was just in awe! I thought it was so neat! Just wanted to share!
Like many stories and comments I see here this is a common phenomenon for me. Ever since I was little dragonflies would hover and land on me. So much so that my Dad nicknamed me for them. Like one of your stories stated I found that they would not survive being removed. But most could be shooed away, at least temporarily. This has persisted many years, 3 different states and many product changes. I live in the USA, east coast then Midwest. However, this occurred when visiting Canada and Germany also. I have tried many natural repellents. I am not afraid of them, just don’t want anything to happen to them. Nice to hear others have this. Good luck getting to the root of it.
last year, sitting at a streams edge, in the sunshine, i was visited by 2 dragonflys that landed on my left hand, and 1 on my right, at the same time. I believe in blessings from the Universe and i truly was blessed! the 3 of them stayed with me for a very long time and i refused to move. i wished i could get a picture but of course they were on my hands for a reason… a week ago or so i sat next to the same stream, reading, writing, and i was visited by a bee who would not leave my skin, even when i moved from sun to shade and back again! he stayed for an hour or so until he was satisfied hed explored all of my skin hed pleased, including my nose. i wasnt afraid of him and i was able to get pictures of him. we became friends and we let each other mind our own business without harm. its all about understanding how to communicate. i get visited quite often by many wild beings but interestingly of all, and i think you’ll like this one, I have befriended a yellow dragonfly! not only could i repeatedly get so close to him that i could lick him with my tongue!, i could see his smile, watch him literally laugh at and with me, and after a long time, well over an hour of hanging with my young ancient friend, he trusted me enough to let me touch him, repeatedly…. we hung out for so long, getting to know each other that finally, it was me who had to leave, so i left him there on the sassafrass leaf. i buzzed all night about how blessed i was to be so intimately connected to a dragonfly that i literally felt he was a friend! but then this morning, i went back to see if he might still be there and there he was! he remembered me because he was letting me pet him and though he moved all over the sasafrass, and his wings were perfect, he never flew away from me. i left him long before he would have left me. I know every universal being can be communicated to through energy, vibrations, thoughts…. i know because I experience it. all the time. i dont know if youll ever read this since the blog is from 2012, but i hope this gives you some answers…
Sounds like these have been great experiences for you! Glad to hear it.
it happened when I was sad in traverse city I said to my creator if you still love me let that dragonfly land on me and 3 or 4 did over the years it has continued 30 yrs or so they appear at difficult times they just stay nearby I find them to be much more interesting and beautiful than butterflies.Actually I came to your site seeking an answer thank you
So glad that you are able to find meaning in this experience! A lot of people have reported similar experiences and it always seems to bring them peace and joy. It makes me happy to read stories like this, so thanks for sharing!
Hi! I just want to share my experience, Im from Manila, Philippines, this happened months ago, maybe they happened twice. i was driving on my way to work when one dragonfly flew towards my windshield and it flew and stay there for awhile. At first i ignored it. The second time it happened again i was driving again, and it flew on my windshield again, i was somewhat distracted cause it is infront of my windshield just like the first time i experienced it. It just flew right infront of my car. As if the dragonfly wants to tell me something. Then my last experience was 4 days ago. It happened when i was going to a parking lot and i saw a dragonfly flying around again on my car’s windshield, this time it flew so vigorously that it stays there longer than the usual. I tried to capture a picture but it flew so fast at my windshield. Out of curiousity, i tried to find an answer to what does it interpret flying while im on my car.. Does it tells me to drive carefully? Is it a spirit? I thought i’m the only one who experienced it. Hope i could find a way to know what does it mean. Thanks!
You are right. Our Creator is awesome..
I just posted a video on my YouTube channel TheMarkandRobyn of a dragonfly that befriended me 2 days ago. And today I met another one that also lands on my hand. They both fly around and land on me as soon as they hear or see me near our pool. I call their names that we gave them and in for a landing they come. I have gotten to look closely at every aspect of this amazing creature.
Exciting! So glad you’re enjoying the experience and I’ll take a look at your video. Thanks for sharing!
I just happened to Google this and found the blog and this reply. What a great story! As for me, I wear a dragonfly necklace and have always loved them. My two toddlers have learnt to love them too so it was a lovely surprise to hear my 4yo shout out recently ‘mummy there’s a creature looking at us! ‘ When I came over to see what sort of creature my boy was taking about, I bent down to see a dragonfly looking right at my two kids and me – for what seemed like 10mins! A gorgeous moment; one that always fills my heart with meaning and love.
I was in my pool yesterday getting some vitamin D when i noticed a small dragon fly had landed on my swim suit. It did fly away when I moved, so I slowly put my hand near it and after 30 seconds landed on my hand. For another 25 mins or so the little light blue dragon fly moved up and down my body landing in different spots from my toe to my hand and arm. After awhile I could move my hand up to it and it would land on my hand almost by command. I got out of the pool wondering if it would be around later. It was a hot day in Texas so later that day I got back in the pool. I saw the same little blue dragon fly on the side of the pool and put my arm out to see if it would land on me. After about 2 minutes it did. Then another one came around flying back and forth with the blue one. After 10 minutes they were both on me. The blue one got so tame I could put my finger out and it would land right on my finger. After 45 minutes other dragon flies started landing on me. Some where connected to each other. I thought what have I become, a dragon fly orgy spot. The little blue guy would have stayed out there with me as long I wanted, but I was beginning to wrinkle. I’ll check in the morning to see if my little friend is still around. I Googled this and found your blog and thought I would add my experience.
Today we were at the beach in Halifax, Nova Scotia( a fresh water lake). While we were deeper in the water a huge dragonfly came and landed on my 19 year old daughter’s head. He stayed for a bit and I placed a finger I front of it and it climbed on and stayed for a bit before flying off. We watched it fly towards shore and around before it came back and landed on my husband’s head as well
A short while later it again flew off and we shortly got out of the water. As I departed the water the dragonfly was in the edge of the water! I scooped him out and tried to help him dry out, but it was no use and it died( after almost a half hour of slight movementsmovementsat the end of its body, the clasping tip, and the abdomen pulsing as if it was breathing.).
I had never experienced anything like this, but was so saddened, that I carefully brought it home and placed it on a shelf in my studio…
I also have dragonflies that visit me almost daily. They fly in circles around and usually land on a nearby pole and watch me. I talk to them and there is no fear on their behalf, nor on mine. There’s different ones. One day will be blue and the next day I will have green ones. One time, I was at an office on the third floor and was standing next to a window and a dragonfly was just floating outside the window watching me. I was pointing one day and a dragonfly landed on my finger. We were in travel at a red light the other day and one was flying back and forth in front of my car. They seem to love it when I drive the convertible. When the top is down they circle the car when I’m driving. You get the drift, I’m sure. When I tell people, they think I’m crazy so I was really glad to see that other people are having the same kind of experiences that I am.
All this summer when I have been riding my horse, dragonflies have been coming to me (not the other riders) and they fly with me, usually there will be 2 and they seem to be almost racing with my horse & I. Now today was different because I had the usual 2 but then a third flew in, landed on my hand and hitched a ride!
I just recently had a dragon fly interact with me from 3:00 to4:59pm he started by flying back in forth from a branch to my face then it landed on me and stayed for a bit fly back to a green onion plant look like it was trying to get my attention flying up off the plant and back moving its head up down and like to the side some time moving its wings different as well as putting its body in a full tail in the air position . it was never scared even when I wasn’t moving it let me get close so I took video of the behavior and pictures so did my husben they tell a better understanding of what im explaining. I’m not scared of any bugs nor animals or reptiles I’ve had 1 run in with a dragonfly but that was when I was little it landed on me out of no were and stayed for a while but this was different even strange I started looking on the internet to see of any stories of dragonfly’s that like to interact with people and why they would do so .just so strange but it was a nice feeling that it was not scared of me like a trust you can say but i would truly like to no why they are behaving like this and if its normal that’s all . I’m ashley from California.
Interesting! Thanks for sharing!
This has happened to me over the years. But I attract insects and animals (both wild and domestic). Nature just likes me. I’ve had dragonflies, bees, moths, butterflies, beetles, cockroaches, Jerusalem crickets, and many more land on me and stay for up to half an hour. I’ve also had a bobcat, raccoons, squirrels, cows, goats, rabbits, birds (hummingbirds, ducks, robins, pigeons, seagulls, doves), lizards, and of course dogs and cats do this. Most of these have landed or climbed on me on me, the cows and bobcat just came and sat very near me. Cats and dogs will follow me for blocks. I always thought it was just me seeming safe/non-threatening. Mosquitoes also love me, but it’s not reciprocated. I had a friend who was like me & we had a couple of picnics where we were joined by all sorts of animals. It sounds crazy, but I swear it’s all true. My mother also has this gift. When she gardens, birds land on her and just hang out while she works. I don’t know what it is, but I am very thankful!
I have dragonflys flying close to me and landing close. Not landing on me yet, does anyone know why i feel it is a spiritual thing. I know the scientist in u may not accept that but i believe science and a force greater than us could actually coexist. I think science is explaining the force or energy people call god. By exactly as science is figuring it out but we also dont know if everything science has found out is truth it could take hundreds of years to find out one theory is wrong
Just as the world is flat and the earth is in center of galaxy
Iv had this happening to me recently only since iv become pregnant dragonflies will land on my belly and stay there for long periods of time even if I am in motion.
The same thing happens to me. I’m from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. I run everyday on a popular trail and every time I get deep into the woods dragonflys will start to follow me. At first it really freak me out but a month later it became normal thing that dragonflys would fly right next to me and follow me from start to finishing. I got used to them bumping into my leg and back. I thought they like the smell of my soap. So before running I would take a hot shower with no soap just water but they would still follow me. My friends make fun of me all the time about it and for some reason they only follow me. It does not always have to be on the trail but that’s when it happens the most. I could tell you right now if I went for a run with a friend they would follow me and not him.
I have two pics from the other night it was 1030 at night and vivas just gotten home. I had a dragonfly flying around me and even stopped in my face…It landed on my hand and stayed there for around 30 minutes and I moved my hand around twisting and turning to examine it and take a few pics…at that point another dragonfly came along and too landed on my hand… Quite intrigue I wanted another pic however my phone had died so I had to go outside in my car to get my charger … They hung on for the whole ride I was simply amazing that for another thirty minutes they both stayed and slowly moved towards each other meeting on the top of my hand however they did not come together….I finally had to get some sleep and shooed them off outside…..I have pics of them…. I too wonder why they came at such a late time and why they stayed …. Maybe they were attempting to use me as mating ground lol….I’m unsure however I hope it means good luck of some kind :) I can email pics if u have an address
Im glad I found this site. Ive been having incidents with dragonfly as well. For some reason every time I go to my back yard to water my plans this dragon fly would come site real close to me and watch. I didnt think much about it until it was happening daily, I would look in the yard to see if hes out there just to prove myself wrong and no he wouldnt be outside unless I was back there and always see him fly right up to one of my plants and sit there I figured if I would get close enough to him he where im hovering over him that he should fly away, but he wouldnt, im not afraid of animals, insects but I also dont hurt them I let them be and live there lives. Bees and wasps get real close to but i never pay attention I go on with my business but the bees and wasps come to my garden for pollen and wasp look for dry stems to pull stuff off to make their nests. But this dragonfly has really had me wondering whats the deal with him. Yesterday was even more stranger because I left my town to couple towns up from me which is about 17 min away, I had left my motorcycle there for several weeks and was dirty so as i was washing it just about done i seen a red dragon fly coming right for me and as im staring at him coming my two girl friends come out of the house and coming towards me to and as soon as this dragonfly saw them he turned right around and I figured it couldnt be the one from my house. So I went home shortly later and went to my garden and he didnt show up, and today he didnt show up again so im wondering if he had followed me. I know sometimes animals follow like it happened to a friend of mine who had a wild white pigeon in front of his house he fed all the time and on day he rode to my house which was an hour away and as we were in the back yard smoking cigarettes all of a sudden a white pigeon came to sit down in my yard but just as he got close to sitting my dog nipped his tail of feathers so he flew up on the roof. So he started to tell me about how he has a white pigeon in front of his house i told him thats got to be yours ive never seen him before which he didnt believe me until he got home and the pigeon wasnt there. it took two days for the pigeon to make it back to his house we were both amazed. And now with this dragonfly I need to know whats going on and why?
Wow, I wonder if there is a link between dragonflies and pigeons. A dragonfly lands and stays on me when I’m sitting out back of my house. I also have a pigeon that visits me every day. He has been doing this for 3 months. I just love all animals big or small. :)
This is happen at my home in South Alabama on the coast. I can’t believe it either. It’s been going on for several weeks they will come to me and my mom who lives with us.
At first they were getting stuck on our screen porch and could not find there way off. We both would free them from the porch; it was not long before we noticed they were hanging out, one would stay for hours. Then things become more odd as they will land on us now on occasion right on my hand.
I have video of the first one who would hang out on the perch of the steps of the porch. We could walk up talk to him he would move his lite head in Interest it seemed. He use to come everyday but one day I found him in a spider web.
We have several now and they will land on my hand on occasion, their were probay about thirty this morning in the back yard.
A small one was on the porch I went to get the container I move them off the porch with but he just landed on my hand and I walked him off the porch.
A larger one this week just followed me off the porch.
I too would like to know. I am sure why they like us so much, their are lots of bugs to eat out there for them, we are on the coast.
This behavior though I have never seen before. From them, makes me feel special to get to enjoy our little friends.
I mentioned to my hair dresser she said they have had the same experience at their house.
The vets office did not know anything about this behavior, one of the techs is working on her biology degree and is familiar with the area very well her family has lived in this area for generations but has never had my experience. Maybe other are to busy to notice, or to busy to take time and stand still long enough.
When we go out we stand on porch edge wait for dogs to come back from playing.
It is an amazing experience on a nice day it’s like we have a zoo of dragon flies.
We have inside dogs we let out on occassion, lots of mocking birds that seem to react with the dogs in some way not sure if good or bad but their tree is by our fence they come out in the morning dot on the fence and check out the dogs they have done this for a long time.
They seem to like our Boxer Tyson who is 11, he has cancer. He goes out in the a.m. Stays out peacefully for about a half an hour with the birds then comes in.
The first dragon fly seem to be on defense when the dogs were outside. He would gave the with wings pinned back watching them.
We have had a humming bird come to visit on the porch often. The first time it took a while to get her off the porch, a whole day.
Funny story I would come out periodically to check on her put everything I could think of to lure her to the door.
I had to run to town at in the late afternoon time, it was dark when I came home, edge of dusk. She had now gone to the corner near the door, I put a ladder up so I could try to maneuver her the few feet to the door; she was very tired from struggling I could tell. I climbed the ladder, tried to gentley coux her to the door but she became afraid flew down and accidently up my long skirt; very scary for both of us I quickly and uncomfortly went down the ladder, it was just a step out the door. I pulled my skirt up, she flew out. Not the plan for getting her off the porch but thank The Good Lord she was off.
She has been back flying outside, only on the porch twice but she trusts me much more now. She will land within a foot or so of me to check me out, I feel like she really wants to get close. She seems to be afraid when she does get stuck and knows she needs help.
Since she will fly lower and perch on things in put the ladder in the door way and leave her to find her way off.
I have been feeling a bit like Mother Nature latley, they like my mom too though and don’t seem to mind my husband who is a doctor and a biologist.
We live next to weeks bay nature preserve in Fairhope/ Magnolia Springs Alabama. The preserve surrounds our neighborhood almost all the way except the front where the highway is.
We do have rose trees on the outside of our porch and these small tree’s with purple blooms they seem to love…We use to have a water fountain low to the ground but last year very small tropical frogs would come up in masses, it was much Rainer last summer every day almost it seemed the first half of summer. I guess that’s why the frogs, our small puppy ate one of the small frogs almost died, I ingested vomiting right away and drove like no tomorrow to the vet down the street. He was in rough shape as we pulled in. If not for our quick thinking and their medication he would have died. He was in the hospital there for a week. With very elevated liver enzymes. At the time he was about six lbs., and 6 months old, Pogo a grey spotted Snauzer.
He survived we had to medicate him for awhile and give liver supplement he is now a strapping 16 lbs. still all boy into mischief all the time. We have had 4 visits to the vet when his mischief causes bad out comes but nothing like the frog.
We discourage frogs from our yard.
The first year we were here we had snakes, the poisons kind. We try to detour them as well.
We use lots of Downey and Tide with Downey, our wash machine is going often. The vent from the dryer probably puts the nice smell of the Downey out into the air. The vent is on the west side if the house.
We have lots of butter flies, not as many as our dragon fly population.
I do not treat my yard for bugs if possible, we have the termite man who sprays around the house twice a year.
Mom noticed a mole the other day which she accidently squished it with the trash can on trash day. She did not notice it until she rolled the cans over it. Opps!
We are nature lovers and do not mean any harm what so ever to any creature. There is no way I could purposely hurt or kill an animal unless lives were in danger.
I grew up in the country, metro a city. So I am a bit of both city and country. I respect and love nature and take notice if I see an animal or harmless insect in danger, I try to help. I don’t know if they sense that.
I know dragon flies are smart from reading, I don’t know if saving them from the screen porch over and over made them remberence us as good, helper . Not sure.
A few year ago I had an unusual experience with a bird at another home that was very unusual.
For some reason a group of honey beas have decided to take of residence in a pillar on our front porch. We have had a bee keeper work in a solution for it.
There is a great Eco system here for the dragon flies. I guess they are just happy.
I would like to know why they and other nature are attracted to us.
We are very quite, peaceful people. I am not sure if they sense that. This is my first experience with the dragon flies though.
The weather has been good to them this year.
We have lived here three years. I will miss the dragon flies when they go.
This happens to me all the time! I put my hand out and they come land on me and chill. I have pictures. I love dragonflies.
Nice! I am envious!
I’m having issues with dragon flies being aggressive. ..flying up in my face, circling me. There actually flying into the doors and windows. ..it’s still light out..there the worst at sunset.
doesn’t matter if it’s me or my husband outside, they act the same. Very aggressive, in our faces. Never seen this behavior before up north. And they are absolutely HUGE….
Hmmm… Not sure what to say to this! I would lean toward thinking that you are seeing dragonflies who are making use of your relatively large size to stir up food as you walk, but I of course haven’t seen what you have seen. Sorry that you’re having a rough time with them though! That’s unfortunate. Have any of them actually TOUCHED you, or at they just flying near you?
As we speak there are four dragonflies circling, hovering and landing on me . . . this always happens to me . . . they land on my head and kinda like burrow themselves in my hair, I get freaked out because of the sound their wings make its not too appealing . . . and when I take a shower or sit in my swimming pool that is when they’re the most annoying. I don’t swat them away I more just dodge and walk around and they fly right behind me. Or they’ll land on my shoulder fall ASLEEP and wake up then go away. It’s very odd that they do this kind of behavior . . . I thought I was cursed or something because I have always feared dragonflies but now that they’re doing this it’s not that scary except for when they burrow in my hair. Any ideas as to what this behavior means?
Today for nearly 1/2 hour we played tag with a dragon fly- it was so unusual and fun at the same time- he would come right up to my face and stay there looking right at me! Then he would fly circles around he nearly hitting me in the back- there was two large dragonflies in the yard and I went up to the other one & they did the same thing! Swarming around us! I don’t get bugged by mosquitoes at all so wondering about scent now that you mentioned it-
Interesting! Thank you so much for sharing. I love hearing these sorts of stories, even if I can’t explain them.
This has happened to me every summer since I was small. My father was a biologist and he used to tell me I must be very special because dragonflies don’t land on just anyone. They will follow me around and land on me at random. Even if I am moving, they continue to stay attached. I have never removed one, and I have never found one dead after the fact. Datning needles also land on me. Mosquitoes don’t seem to be as attracted. I do get bitten every once in a while, but not in swarms like some. I live in Maine, and have for most of my life, but even when I lived in Florida, Virginia, and Ohio, they would find me. Dad thought that it might be pheremones, but wasn’t sure. I hope this helps!
I haven’t worn shoes for the past 30 odd years, and mosquitoes are usually attracted to the smell of people who wear socks. They get bitten and I don’t. Mosquitoes are the dragonflies favorite food.
I have a dragonfly friend. Almost every morning when I go to my car to leave for work it hovers around me and my car. Last week it hovered infront of my car as to not leave. This has been going on for a few months. I started pointing it out to my husband who walks me out to my car and after a few times he thought it was weird. Yesterday I sat in my car, no sign of the dragonfly. I said where is she and waited a minute. Nothing. Then I said “I am leaving now” and it zoomed up to the car and started dancing around and took off. My husband really tripped out and kept saying “wow”.
I had and am still having an experience of two dragonflies following me. My mother died 4 weeks ago and ever since I have been followed by these creatures. I walked around my house and this one dragonfly followed me around the entire walk and hovered next to me as I planted a seed from my mother’s Japanese Magnolia tree. Then it flew over where I planted the seed as if to check it out. Today I heard a noise in my kitchen and the dragonfly followed me into the house. I caught it and gently put it back outside. This whole experience is freaking me out. I have given it a name and it always seems to be waiting for me when I walk outside. I am a nurse and scientifically oriented, but sometimes I wonder what is really out there.
This just recently started happening to me but I was coming home from playing volleyball, then I notice a dragon fly on me of course I shake it off and sqeal like a little girl would, later I go in wash up then go to my room to do homework I believe 10 minutes later I hear this bug like sound shaking my window. I was so scared because it sounded to big. Thinking it would just go away. I thought it was under my blinds, I not wanting to sleep with one eye open I try to get rid of it. I lift the blinds and it’s that same dragonfly! Trying to get through my window. I stare at it for about 5 min. And it staring back like it’s telling me to open the window, me being scared of it just sits and stares at it. Keeps hitting my window every now and then, I just stare at it for awhile then he stops.
I have experienced something like this in my backyard in Illinois. I was in my backyard leaning on my car when I noticed a nice sized blue dragonfly flying around. It flew up to me and started hovering around then landed on the spoiler of my car.i walked to it and it flew away but then flew to me again and started flying in circles around me then landed in the same spot on my car, It was almost as if it wanted to play tag. Made me wonder if it’s possible for insects to be people friendly
Two years ago the dragonflies surround me when I made a wish.. And this year two dragonflies follow me going home..
I’ve always had them fly around me. This year we went tubing down the river and I had 3 land on me at the same time. Later I had more land. At lunch I found my nephew by one and it let me pick it up and carry it to where my family was. It didn’t fly away until someone else tried to touch it. Anytime I go by water I seem to get swarmed by dragonflies which I love. I love fairies which I associate butterflies and dragonflies with. My niece thinks I’m a princess. I always wondered why they chose me. I do not get bitten by mosquitos. I don’t have the blood they like, so I don’t think that is why the dragonflies chose me. I try to get photos of them on me but I’ve only had my camera nearby once.
Dragonflies always land on my fingers and toes when I lay out on rafts in pools or even in lounge chairs. One year I had a specific dragonfly land on me every time I came to my friend pool. This Dragonfly chased away other Dargonflies trying to land on me. I have many witnesses. The bizarreness of it intrigued me. I recently got a Dragonfly tattoo on my back. I also took up skydiving.
My experience is perhaps closest to that of the first woman. In 2008 I was watching dragonflies darting back and forth forty to sixty feet away.
Suddenly one dragonfly zipped over, facing me, eye level, and just hung there for about five seconds before zipping away. I stood very still, trying not to scare it, struck with a sense of wonder. My first thought was that the dragonfly had observed me watching it. Due to predator-prey relationships it is important for animals to know when they are being watched and when they are not since in the former they must be careful, watching a potential predator, but in the latter they may go on about their business, eating and the like. Birds and insects will pay you little attention while you pass them unless you are gazing at them, in which case they are much more likely to fly away. Similarly, cats might gaze at one-another as a means of intimidation in order to establish dominance.
But why would the dragonfly zoom towards me rather than away? I had noticed at least one dragonfly that day flexing its tail, bending the body almost in half, repeatedly. Males will bend their tails for grasping females during copulation. This arose as part of an evolutionary adaptation to females preying on males during the act, a means of holding the female at bay while otherwise most vulnerable to her. I gathered this was mating time. Male dragonflies can get fairly aggressive with females, and from what I understand, even dragonfly couples. I suspect that at the time males were leaned more towards fight than flight.
If the dragonfly perceived my gaze as threatening he may have sought to respond to intimidation with intimidation. Regardless, I was struck with awe and wonder, at someone so small being aware of my gaze, then returning it, evidently deliberately making me aware of his awareness of my gaze.
This has always happened to me. I’m 22 bees, dragonflies and hummingbirds always flock towards me and just stay there. I’ll give them names and talk to them. When I was a little girl I thought I was a real Disney Princess because my grammas house had many hummingbirds and they would fly around me. Lately it’s more bees and dragonflies. I told my mom I’m the Kahleesi of insects.
As a child dragonflies were always very attracted to me. I was known as “The Dragonfly Girl” because they would always land on me.
Every single summer a group of dragonflies would come into my yard and we would play “tag”.
That sounds crazy, but I’m serious, they would dive-bomb me and chase me around the yard and around trees, and in turn I would chase them too. A few would latch onto my shirt and let me carry them around for a long time, and even let me pick them up, then they would eventually fly away.
As an adult looking back on that I thought it was just childish imagination, but it happened again very recently! I was in a park and there was a cluster of dragonflies overhead, and they started to dive me and chase me in circles. I don’t know what it is, but I love the dragonflies. It’s so interesting to hear that there are others they’re attracted to too.
Hi my name is Ken, something really special and strange happened today with a Dragonfly. I have no fear of these beautiful insects. While sitting on my patio a Dragonfly landed on my right pinky finger. I looked him/her right in the eye and talked with it. It was a beautiful purple with purple spots. I noticed as I stared at it’s face the head would move rapidly like it was trying to tell me to get up. It flew on and off my finger then came to rest on the same finger. I had a strange feeling that it was doing what a dog would do when someone is in trouble. So I gently stood up and walked in the direction that it was pointing. I turned right at the corner of the house and it turned to the left. I turned to the left and it turned straight, I slowly walked forward behind a car that was parked. It turned left I followed his lead. I got to the front of the car and there were at least 20 dragonflies swarming around. I noticed that they were flying towards the lower part of the windshield.when I looked through the glass there was a Dragonfly inside the car between the forward part of the dashboard and the bottom of the window. All this time that same Dragonfly is sitting on my pinky. As soon as I reached in the open window it flew back around to the front of the window. I pulled out the dead one and put it on the hood of the car and all of them stayed with the dead one. I walked away and left them in peace. Was this a coincidence? did the Dragonfly communicate me? Or am I losing my mind.
I have one on me as I’m writing this. I’m at work and one has come in the shop and so I try and catch it with a net which I do in the end and then when I went to take it outside it went on my finger which gave me a chance to take off all the cobwebs it has on it, but it didn’t leave and it hasn’t left yet, I’ve been doing my job with every door and window open and even had the chance to go outside with it and yet it won’t leave, it’s been on me now for more than 4 hours since I found it. I don’t know why it won’t leave, I’ve tried fluttering it off but it’s no good.
Hi!
I just went to Google and found your site on this same occurrence. In the last two weeks…whenever I am outside…I have dragonflies following or landing on me. Enough that I found it odd and had to do a search on it. I can’t say I have noticed this before, but I am very curious and will keep searching for an answer. Thanks for your post.
Best,
Susan
I have a little (Yorkie) dog that plays in my backyard. Serval times I’ve noticed dragonflies seem to be playing with him. They will fly close to his head and my dog will try to grab it so instead of flying off the dragonfly will tap him on the butt. Of course my dog tries to grab it and the whole game of tag begins again. This goes on for several minutes. It’s very entertaining. Seeing this so many times has led me to believe that dragonflies are very intelligent and enjoy this play. My husband says that one landed on his knees while he was fishing and bit him. Also interesting was the time I loosened one from the grip of a spiders web and the dragonfly followed me around the yard, (landing on me occasionally) for at 15 minutes.
Yes I have had simular experiences when I was 17 I first noticed it when I was in Vernon BC Canada, dragon fly kept flying up to my face like a foot away . It was like it was staring into my eyes . And now at 58 we live up at Paul lake BC and have gone on our neighbors boat several times, and they do the same thing , and when we go swimming in the lake now they come up very close and have landed on me several times.
I dont understand it but i have dragonflies in my kitchen and bathroom. At least five in the kitchen most of the time and a few smaller ones in my bathroom. This has been going on since about end of July early August. My mom passed away here in the back room after a long battle with cancer ive heard things about dragonflies being a sign from passed loved ones, but if not that why are they here? I live in Arizona. What are your thoughts?
Wow, really? How strange! Any chance you can send me a photo so I can take a look at what you’ve got? You could send photos to thedragonflywoman at outlook dot com. I might not be able to explain what’s happening, but I would love to see which species you’ve got in your house. That is a very unusual behavior.
I will say, however, that I have heard from lots of people have had experiences with dragonflies after the passing of loved ones, sometimes strange and inexplicable things that I can’t explain. I don’t personally believe that there is a connection between these strange occurrences and the deaths of the people that occur with them (I suspect instead that people notice the things around them in a new or more profound way after a significant loss such as the one you experienced), but I also would never tell anyone that they’re wrong about the possibility of there being a real connection because I just don’t know. I also tend to think that if the dragonflies make you feel better about the whole experience, then who am I to discredit the experience for you? I had a couple of strange dragonfly experiences shortly after my father died, so I have had my own inexplicable experiences and they were quite profound. And regardless of what I think about any possible connection, I am very sorry for your loss.
I live in East Texas and dragonflies seem to come and land on me. I actually like them and think they are beautiful so it doesnt bother me. If I am in my pool floating on my mat they will hover over me ans they land on my toes and just sit for the longest. Sometimes they will land on my hat too. Yesterday we were sitting out by the pool and a dragonfly kept flying around. My husband dont like them and thinks they are annoying. I told him watch this… so I put out my hand and the dragonfly landed on my hand and just sat there. He came back five different times and landed on my hand. My husband is kinda freaking out about it then. I told him that when I get to Heaven that Im gonna be surrounded with dragonflies and dogs.
I’ve had various insects land on me and stay around for more than a few seconds- dragonflies, damselflies, butterflies, even a rather large beetle that I could not identify. They do not hover around me en masse then land like the others you’ve written about but I still always find it odd that they choose me as a landing post rather than the more natural settings around me. When I happen to have a camera on me (which is often), I take a picture like this one at https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/JcCXyzRixaJG9qpyEsKe0dMTjNZETYmyPJy0liipFm0?feat=directlink
Fun! I would love to have odonates landing on me! Thanks for sending the link to the photo.
Since I was a child I have been attracted to dragonflies. We called them “snake doctors” in W.Va. Playing in the creek by our house, I would see them flying around me, and yet I wasn’t sure whether they were capable of stinging, so I didn’t try to catch them. As an adult, walking through the woods, I am blessed with their presence quite often. And yes, they have landed on me many times, sometimes sticking around for the ride, sometimes flying away. Once I was sitting on a bench and this ruby red dragonfly flew right at me, skimmed my face, and landed on my head! Another time, a gray dragonfly landed on my camper, right by me. I noticed that it had a cobweb wrapped around it, and I reached over, took hold of the cobweb, and pulled it loose. The dragonfly sat there for a few seconds, them flew away. I have had similar experiences with butterflies. I don’t question these events, I just delight in them. I like to think that they feel my love, and that’s why they are attracted to me. Yet those people you talked about don’t want them around, and so this mystifies me. Like you, I don’t understand what they could be attracted to.
Thanks for sharing! I too would be quite thrilled to have dragonflies following me around and landing on me.
You can add one more person to your list. Some species of dragonflies and damselflies seem to think of me as an appropriate resting spot. It seems to happen most when I am paddling in a canoe with my husband. They appear to like me better than they do him.
On a similar note, I have always noticed that eastern meadow hawks are sort of like cats…if I am working on something outside they like to get in the thick of things and “help” me out.
The dragonflies hanging around while you’re working in your yard – that’s likely the same sort of deal as accompanying. They’re taking advantage of the fact that you’re stirring things up and making the little insects they like to eat fly around. Fun! And I hear stories about people having encounters with dragonflies while paddling on ponds. Makes me wonder what’s going on there too, but I have a feeling that’s a bit different than what I’ve described here. Still an amazing experience though, so thanks for sharing! Now I’m thinking I should start collecting stories about that too…
I’ve just had an experience that was odd so I came online to check stuff out. I decided to reply off this post since you commented about encounters on water. I’ve had them land on me while I’ve been in the canoe. I didn’t think much of it other then I was a resting plat form. I was also wearing lotion. Most recently though, two dragonflies flew into my house. The first one came in and quickly realized that this isn’t where he wanted to be and found his way out after hovering around the glass for a moment. The second one came in with such speed he couldn’t stop and smashed into the tv. He was disoriented on the floor for a little while and then spun around on the ceiling for a bit. I needed to show him where the door was stepping outside myself and ensuring he saw where to fly. He caught on and flew out suddenly making me duck!
You know, I don’t hear about dragonflies in people’s houses very often! Did they come in at night, or was it during the day? If at night they may have been attracted by the lights. If during the day… Well, I’m less aware of any reasons why they might be coming indoors. Perhaps it’s just an error, the way you might occasionally end up with a bird inside? I really don’t know!
I had an isolated experience that I don’t think counts, but I have a question about it that maybe you can answer. We were doing a rehearsal inside a theater in NYC this September and I was visited at the sound console in the back of the house by what appeared to be the largest dragonfly I’d ever seen. For a few minutes it kept flying in front of my face before moving on, where it hovered at the end of the row where the stage manger and choreographer sat. It flew in front of them a few times, but moved on. To where, we have no idea.
It was about eight inches long. I’m not making this up. It landed for a bit on a wall sconce right next to me and I could see exactly how much it hung over the fixture. I tried to find out what kind it was, to be so large, but was unsuccessful.
One of the stage managers reported seeing another dragonfly the same size over the next couple days both on the street and in the subway tunnel.
Everybody who didn’t see it just thought we were nuts. Any thoughts?
Hmmm… If it was indoors, it’s possible that the dragonfly was simply trapped inside and going about the business of either trying to find its way out or trying to find food. I definitely can’t say for sure though as I wasn’t there to observe it myself. As for the size… The biggest dragonfly in the world is less than 5 inches long and is found in Australia, so if it really was that big then it might have been something other than a dragonfly. Can you tell me what color it was? The biggest dragonflies in New York are in the aeshnid group, but they’re usually less than 4 inches long. They’re typically green or blue with black markings, black with green markings, or bright blue and/or green. Also, what time of year was it? That might help me narrow down the options a bit more.
It was all black, no other color. Dragonfly shaped (to me) but I can’t speak for the wings. And it was the fall.
Intersting! Let me look into it and see what might have been.
Hi, I was reading your post and came by this question. The “dragonfly” this person describes sound like a black soldierfly.
Perhaps, but soldier flies aren’t typically nearly as big as what Ms. Randolph described. I would be surprised if it was a soldier fly. Do appreciate your suggestion though!
Hello, I want to share my mysterious dragon fly story that happened days back to back. One day I got home and while I was getting out my car, a dragon fly flew in. It landed on my dash and was looking at me. I said to myself that this is weird. Then it flew out my car. Then the next day I went to the horse park and walked in nature. As I was leaving two dragon flies were playing around me. Then I opened my palm extended my hand towards it and one landed on me . I walked with it on my hand. Then it flew away came back and did that over again until it flew off for good. So I figured, that was the end of that dragon fly. Then I get to my car. Guess what I see? That dragon fly sitting on my car antenna looking at me. Then it flies off. Two days later , I’m walking and the dragon fly zips past me. I follow it and then it goes flying in the rd. and a big truck hits it. It tumbles. And it’s flipping. I go to it and pull it out the rd. it’s still alive. I’m contemplating if I take it with me or leave it. I had an empty container in my bag. I bend down to pick it up. As I’m doing so a cop has pulled up and asked is everything okay? I say yes, this dragon fly got hit by a car. He says are you gonna try and save it’s life? I say yes but I think it’s too late. So the dragon fly died, I cried. Now I’m going to get it preserved.
Just 2 weeks ago while driving a bright blue dragonfly flew into my car , hovered around my face , landed on my dashboard , hung out for awhile , flew back into my face and then flew out . I don’t wear any parfume or scented anything because I have a very sensitive nose and can’t handle even lotions that are scented . This really surprised me and I think it’s something to do with the divine . Call me crazy but I just realized yesterday that my son is working at this new restaurant and wait for it , the logo is a dragonfly ! And better yet he tells me (after I told him about this ) that a dragonfly was in his house dead . He sent me a picture . This son I have been worried about , he’s had a tough time and lives far away . So I think It was a sign that he is ok !
Hi, DW,
I was on the trail with a class this fall – about 10 of us – and one of the class members constantly had meadowhawks landing on him. Not Hitchcockian, but the rest of us were pretty much ignored. I’ll have to ask him if this is common for him.
Interesting… I really am wondering how widespread this sort of thing might be, so I’d love to hear as many stories as possible.
I live in upstate New York, over the last couple of years I’ve had a red dragonfly following me( I think), obviously not in winter months. I work in trees, up on the tops of trees, as a climber. Only noticed the red dragonfly landing near me and hanging out. Other dragonflys just go about their business, but this red one seems to be there very close and landing on me a few times. I have had the same(looking) dragon fly stay close to me whe I was working many times. This started happening to me after my girlfriend passed away. Maybe coincidence, but it is really strange. I found your post because I was curious about this, I am not an ” insect person”, neither afraid or interested until these interactions
Thank you for sharing your story! You know, I get a lot of these kinds of stories, ones about people who have started to see dragonflies show up in strange places and doing strange things after the death of a loved one. I can’t explain it scientifically and I’m not at all convinced that it’s anything other than coincidence or people ascribing meaning to something as a means of dealing with a huge loss, but I’m also not 100% sure that there isn’t something more to it. I myself had some odd dragonfly encounters after my father passed away a few years ago. I’d heard these stories from people visiting my blog for a couple of years and then there I was, surrounded by out-of-place dragonflies shortly after my father died. If nothing else, it gave me comfort to think about stories like yours and think about all of the people who are connected to one another by these sorts of events.
Mind if I ask how large this dragonfly is? I’m curious what type it might be.
Dragonflies have become a symbolic figure in my family. Since I was a kid, dragonflies have always been around my grandfather’s house in large quantities. I believe it is because he has a pool, however, we associate them as very friendly because of the interactions they have with my family and I. We have summertime pictures over the last 23 years of various family members and dragonflies in their toes, fingers, hands, chairs, heads etc. In recent years we have put up a volley ball net across the pool to play pool volleyball and often the dragonflies land on the net and stay there while games are in progress.
Aside from the pool, even when I have traveled to other locations ( the Caribbean, other states and locations in my home state) I have had dragonflies land on me or hover around for moments at a time, fly away and then return. Other family members have also experienced this and the behaviors of the dragonflies have led to my family loving the company of these beautiful insects and inspiring them in many ways. (My sister and I have both gotten dragonfly tattoos, a few other family members are planning to do the same.) No one in my family has ever been afraid of them or thought to try and deter the dragonflies. Their presence is very rewarding because they keep other annoying insects at bay.
On another note, not only do they land on us, but we can bring them up very close to our face and if we talk to them we notice them turning their heads as if they were listening. I have plenty of pictures if you want me to send you any.
I would love to see photos if you have them! You can post them on my Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Dragonfly-Woman/160362030681809?sk=wall) or I can send you an e mail so you’ll have my e mail address to send them to. How fun! And I’m happy to hear about the dragonfly tattoos. If I ever get a tattoo (and I have a severe fear of needles that’s likely to prevent my ever doing so, but a girl can dream…), I already have my dragonfly picked out: wandering glider, as realistic as possible, just below the base of my neck. I’d love to have a dragonfly tattoo…
just found your site and couldn’t resist sharing this Christmas dragonfly: http://www.flickr.com/photos/awalker_1/6593914277/in/set-72157627857123544
Nice! I have dragonflies on my Christmas tree too!
That’s very odd, but it happens. I’ve had butterflies landing on me, so I don’t know, maybe they’re trying to tell us something.
I expect the occasional butterfly, even the occasional dragonfly, to land on people. What makes this dragonfly thing differnt is that these people have A LOT of dragonflies coming near them and landing on them. That’s unusual as dragonflies tend to avoid people and have the eyesight and agility to allow them to do so quite well. Very strange…
I’ve had insects, including dragonflies, land on me, but never unusually so. (I’m not talking about mosquitoes and the like that we expect to try and land on humans!) The most memorable incident was when two hairstreaks (butterflies) landed on my hand and proceeded to mate. It seemed rude to interrupt them so I had to stand as still as possible for about a minute. This is harder than you might realize, especially with two small insects tickling your hand! : – )
Now my father has the opposite problem. Insects do not land on him. The family can be anywhere suffering from any kind of insect overload you might like to think about, mosquitoes, yellow flies, horseflies, whatever, they don’t land on him and they don’t bite him. I wish I had that problem come mosquito season!
Love the butterfly story! It amused me greatly. And I too wish I had your dad’s “problem” with insects avoiding him! I am apparently a mosquito buffet (and a no see um buffet), so I would love to have that problem…
Interesting. I’ve experienced mosquito preferences for people presumably based on differences in body temperature or respiration rate, and they definitely like blue jeans better than white lab coats, but having a dragonfly land on me has been rare. I have had a Sympetrum internum land on me repeatedly in the backyard when sitting around reading, but I think he just added me to his territorial perches. I once had a large aeschnid (Aeschna cf interrupta) land on my shirt, but it soon fluttered off to the garage wall – I think the cool and windy day was to blame. That’s it for up close and personal, but my wife and I did experience a swarm of about 30 Variable Darners last summer. For a half hour or so they zipped all around us – and gave us the only mosquito-free half hour of the day at our campsite. We loved it.
Oh, nice! I would love to see a swarm of variable darners! That would be so beautiful. And I’m like you – I’ve had the normal sort of encounters with biting insects and have had the occasional dragonfly land on my clothes or my arms (especially when I’ve been working on boats), but the people I’m describing here have it happen A LOT more often than most people. Very odd…
Hey, again, DW,
My husband was wondering if the man from Canada, whose dragonflies seemed to die after being removed from his person, might have been using lots of industrial-strength OFF! or other repellant. Canada is known for it’s biting flies.
Also, some species of butterflies, especially Red Admirals and some of the anglewings, are famous for landing on people. Admirals will “mineral” on sweat, and the anglewings are curious/aggressive.
He didn’t say. I should probably ask him actually as that would be a good explanation for why they are dying. That’s a good idea!
Mmmm… Salty sweat. I love that sometimes the really beautiful insects that everyone loves end up doing gross things like sucking sweat off of people or sucking tears out of their eyes. It’s the best part about leps I think!
Hello DW, when I was a kid we holidayed every summer at my grandmothers in Denmark. She had an enormous fruit and vegetable garden and my father told me that one day he was sitting there in the sun with his hands crossed and a dragonfly landed on his thumb. It sat there for several minutes before flying off and very quickly returned to the same spot with an insect which it butchered whilst still sitting on his thumb. It then repeated this with a second insect before eventually departing leaving behind a small pile of inedible insect debris including wings etc. I thought this was remarkable behaviour, and I must confess to being a tad envious!
Oh, that would have been a marvelous experience to have! Perhaps not entirely out of the ordinary as a lot of dragonfly species survey their territories while sitting somewhere they can look out over their territory, so it likely would have been using your dad as a perch. Still… Fun! I would love to have a dragonfly use me as a perch and dump its leftovers on me!
i’ve never had dragonflies land on me, but when i was an undergraduate student i had an entomology professor that said he learned to hypnotize dragonflies when he was in japan after the war. the procedure is that you stand about ten feet in front of them and move your hand in a wide circle at the end of your arm, decreasing the size of the circle as you walk toward them. they become confused and you can just pick them up. i’ve tried this a few times, but never had any luck. have you ever heard of something like this?
No, I haven’t! Interesting. I’ve caught dragonflies with my hands and with soup strainers, but I’ve always relied on slow movements and stealth. Might have to see if this works!
Kurt Mead has a picture of someone doing that in his book Dragonflies of the North Woods. I’ve never tried it, though I did once find a pair of Aeshna canadensis so absorbed in mating that I got them to climb up onto my finger and sit there for over ten minutes before I returned them to the tree, still locked together.
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I would wonder what color these people were wearing. The only time I’ve seen large numbers of dragonflies on a human, they were Libellula julia landing on a white shirt in the evening; since L. julia also like to land on pale tree trunks in the sun, I assume this was basking behavior.
Searching for “dragonflies” and “basking” turns up a similar picture:
http://www.pugetsound.edu/academics/academic-resources/slater-museum/biodiversity-resources/dragonflies/image-collection/basking-dragonflies/
Excellent! I think I’ll ask Dennis Paulson about his experience so I can compare it to what I’m hearing from the people who write to me. I imagine this same sort of thing might have been happening with the Canadian man, though I’m not so sure about the two women. I feel I’m a step closer to understanding this though! Thank you!
This was my first thought too – that they were attracted to a raised surface to sunbathe on.
I am now thinking this might be part of it, at least for the Canadian man, but the fact that it happens SO often to the three people I discussed suggests to me that there might be something a little more going on here too. After all, if the dragonflies are just looking for a place to sit, they’d be landing on the other people sitting out in the yard with the first woman I describe when they’re hovering around only her, and obviously enough that other people comment and tease her about it. I’ll keep looking into it, but I think the basking idea is a really great one!
Maybe some people sit more still than others, so make a more attractive perch? Hope you can find more out!
Maybe! That’s an interesting idea to keep in the back of my mind as I find out more. Thanks!
I don’t know how relevant this might be but mosquitos are attracted by smells caused by the mix of bacteria and enzymes in an individual’s skin – and this is unique to each person.
I’ve wondered if something like that might be happening with the people who have experienced this sort of dragonfly attractiveness. Still don’t know though!
I have this issue with mosquitoes. But then again, I’m also allergic to mosquito bites.
Mosquitoes are known to be more attracted to certain people than others! It’s based on your body chemistry, your particular scent and the carbon dioxide you give off. I somehow doubt the dragonflies are using scents to find the attractive people, but who knows? Maybe they are!
I have had the experience with the dragonflys, thats when I became a fan, they just seemed to be attracted to me. I think they are awesome. I was at a lake and they just kept coming over and landing on me, and staying a long time, no matter if i moved or not they just stayed. I had 2 on me that stayed all afternoon. If I see them now they seem to come up to me, land on me, fly close to me. I love them.
Cool! I would honestly love to be one of those people. Lucky you!
I have the same situation with dragonflies. My boyfriend even notices it and some friends. They always hover over me. Even when I walking ithey seem to follow close circling around me. I do live in the country so there is abudent but its always a large group that seems to follow. They also are attracted to my car bouncying off of it kinda neat to watch it seems to be a game. I’m not sure why I’ve always attracted them but I enjoy it’s like a bond with mother nature
Fun! And I’m so happy to hear that you consider this a good thing. I know I would!
I haven’t lived around dragonflies very much but they do always seem to hang around me when I do. Recently I’ve been having a lot of desert dragonflies flying right at me, sometimes landing on or near me, other times they’ll even “hover” near my head like moths so often do. It’s sad how many dead dragonflies we keep finding because they won’t leave. Somewhat odd, if you ask me.
Interesting! I’m fascinated by this and I’d really love to figure out what’s going on with those of you that seem to attract dragonflies someday.
I too attract dragonflies. Ive noticed it for quite awhile. Now others are noticing it. My bf said he thought it was strange when i said that they did this, but as we floated, swam, and fished for over a week it happened over and over again. Sonetimes up to three dragonflies at a time were on me.
There is a spiritual feeling to it. I know that sounds strange. Im not a spiritual ir religious person.
Interesting! There do seem to be quite a few people who have this experience. Wish I was one of them! I think I would rather enjoy it.
Just this evening my 2 grandchildren and I were sitting on the ground in the backyard when a brown dragonfly (it resembled a dragonfly) flew over to me. It sat on my hand as well as my finger. I transferred it to both of my grandchildren’s hands several times. It never attempted to fly away. This went on for almost an hour at which point we decided to go for a walk. We brought the dragonfly with us and he sat on my finger until we got back. At that time I had to physically put him on a plant so that I could go into the house. I’ve never experienced such a long “visit” from a dragonfly. It was such a amazing experience for us all. Thank you dragonfly for choosing us this evening :)!! Tracey Spencer Cape Cod, Massachusetts
Oh, that sounds like a magical experience! I’m so happy you enjoyed it!
I have heard that Dragonfly’s are loved ones that have passed on. They’re there to tell you that they’re okay…
That’s definitely one of the more popular stories related to dragonflies. If so, perhaps these people who are super attractive to dragonflies simply have a lot of people who love them.
My mom has this happen to her as well. She just went to the Colorado river recently and everyone was floating and the dragonflies all went to Mom. Strange!
Thanks for sharing! It’s interesting to see how many people have this experience!
Hi, I would also like to find out why dragonflies are attracted to me..Today I was at my grandfathers house and I saw some awesome blue and green dragonflies. The green ones would constantly sit on my sisters,
My husbands and my feet! And the blue ones would actually follow me and land on my hands and anywhere else It possibly could. This has never happened to me before, although I’ve never really stayed around any of them long enough for them to get close to me till today. But anyway, I thought it was the cutest thing lol, they have such cute faces too. They would land on my hand and then just look up at me and kind of move their adorablely big eyes back and fourth :). I would also like to know why the blue ones are more willing to get up close to people and some of the green ones would just rest on your feet?..We’ll prob. Never know this but it’s interesting and cool nevertheless.. I never knew dragonflies were so friendly :). Especially the crystal blue looking ones!
Yeah, I have no idea why dragonflies seem to like some people like this more than others. It’s very strange! Glad you’re enjoying the experience though!
Ii was swimmimg in pool one day and had a dragonfly land on my toe and stayed there for awhile and we floated around the pool. I have always been fascinated with dragonflies but thought this was weird cause i have never known dragonflies to come in contact with humans. It was awesome.
Interesting! Dragonflies do come into contact with humans from time to time and I’ve heard from several people who have had experiences like yours while they were paddling rivers and lakes. I think they’re likely taking advantage of the perch you’re providing! Glad you enjoyed your little hitchhiker. I would have been thrilled!
I attract dragonflies! Everytime I go on vacation to a certain lake where dragonflies are prevailant they not only just land on me but almost seem to be mating on me! I shoo them away and they come right back! I am with at least 3 other people who have no issue! Was searching for dragonfly ddeterents when I found this site! Help!
I unfortunately haven’t identified what causes certain people to attract dragonflies like this, so I’m not going to be able to help you. Sorry you don’t seem to be enjoying it though! Do you happen to be wearing white or another light color when this happens by any chance?
I just turned 18 and I’ve just recently noticed dragonflys following me everywhere, I just now realized it. It’s been going on for about 2 weeks now and I remember seeing them all the time even when I’m in my car parked I always would see one flying around my car I just never thought anything of it until recently. I know they like to hang around water but I live in the middle of Indiana and I wouldn’t be around water or anything in that nature at all and I would still have one following when Im outside I’ve noticed them flying around me I would just swat it away because i didn’t realize how beautiful tthe dragonfly is n
And I know it HAS to mean something, I think they are trying to tell me something. I’ve done some research and I’ve seen they do symbolize a few things. Do you think this could be the reason behind it ?
It’s always a possibility! I tend to lean toward scientific explanations, but I never rule out the idea that there’s something greater happening too.
You seem to have a few things going on here. Dragonflies are (sadly) attracted to cars because they mistake them for water, so it sounds like you might have the kind of paint that the dragonflies like. If you’ve only noticed the dragonflies following you for a few weeks and this is a new thing, I suspect you’re experincing accompanying behavior, a behavior in which dragonflies follow large mammals (all humans are large by dragonfly standards, so this isn’t meant as an insult!) because they stir up the little flying insects the dragonflies like to eat as they walk. This is a relatively common dragonfly behavior and well documented in the scientific literature. If they stop following you in the next few weeks, it’s even more likely that this is what’s happening. I haven’t ever had it happen to me, but I hope I’ll experience it someday!
Your story made me smile because I have called my daughter “The Dragonfly Whisperer”. When she was approx. 3 she was able to walk up to dragonflies perched in my flower gardens and gently pick them up by their wings. The dragonflies didn’t fly away or struggle — they let her pick them up and place them on her hand — she was so gentle and I was amazed. As soon as I approach them, they would fly away from me! Then, amazingly, they began hovering around and landing on her. I have hundreds of pictures of this amazing event — it was magical. She is now 15 and has continued to “have the touch” with all sorts of animals, wild and tame. They seem to trust her — she has this “connection” with animals and insects. I currently have a koi pond with surrounding flower garden and dragonflies come to me and hover my my face over and over but they haven’t landed on me — I keep hoping though!
How fun! Sounds like a great experience for your daughter. I’m a little envious too!
All summer long a blue dragonfly has been hanging out in my yard. At first I thought it was cute, but after a while he constantly flew right into my personal space, sometimes almost hitting me in the face! To make matters even more exciting, he fights with another dragonfly, Im guessing to claim his territory, and one day they fought so aggressively the flew right on to my laptop! He also likes to land on the top of the broom handle while I sweep. I just wish he would stop playing chicken with me as its hard to sit, relax and enjoy my pool! Im currently laid off and want to enjoy my yard but he makes it difficult. Ive lived here for 20 years and have never had this happen before. Its like he’s part of the family at this point. I live in south jersey and Ive been use to seeing dragonflies buzzing around my yard during the summer, but this is the first time Ive seen the same one hanging out like he lives here, but I guess he kind of does! :)
You must have something good in your yard that the dragonfly wants to make him keep coming back. It’s too bad you aren’t enjoying him! He might be flying in your face, but he is also harmless and is eating the little biting insects in your yard. Free and natural pest control!
Hi! I found this after looking up ‘what’ it is that attracts dragonflies and butterflies to me. I figured that maybe they were after small parasites or something. The interesting thing about this, is when they land, they stay. Whether my finger, toe, nose. A butterfly landed on my hand, It wouldn’t move, not when I got up, not when I walked, not when I went indoors to grab my camera and took the pic-still didn’t budge. My son would try. He would cup the butterfly, place his arm on mine and make it so that the butterfly had to land on him, but it would go around him to get to me. True story. I wonder if it is blood type?
It’s possible blood type plays a role, though I have no idea what might be causing this. It’s so strange! But it’s interesting to see how many people are actually having this experience. Maybe if I collect enough of these stories I might see some patterns emerging.
I’ve attracted dragon flies all my life and consider them a totem. They always come to me and I talk to them. They usually don’t land on me, but just stay close by looking at me. I’ve had one land on my blouse and proceed to eat a moth as if I weren’t even there. I particularly attract 3 colors, so I call them Jade, Topaz, and Sapphire. I am 73 and live in Louisiana.
Interesting! I am rather astonished by all the reports I’ve been getting about this behavior. It makes me want to get you all in a room to ask questions to see what you all have in common that causes this. I’m completely fascinated!
They land on me every so often but sometimes I’ll have a day or two where they stay with me to point that others comment. There was one three day period where the same dragonfly or color of one stayed with me every time I entered lake for three days. It was cool.
I’ve always felt close to God when alone, floating, watching clouds, birds, etc and having a dragonfly friend with me.
Interesting… Thanks for sharing and I’m so glad to hear that you enjoy the experience! I know I would.
Soooo, I posted on here about 9mo ago…I was the one playing my guitar and a song I wrote and a dragonfly sat on my shoe for a loooong time almost like it was listening lol….anyway…this evening I was out by my car stereo up jamming to the tunes and keeping beat with a tambourine…and this HuGe dragonfly buzzed by and then turned went around my car but above it two or three times and was flying odd like it was dancing to the music o.0 then it took off…never seen anything like that in my life….anyone else notice anything that bizarre with dragonflies? It was cool as all get out though!~!! I had to share this experience with somebody and the only one that came to mind was the dragonfly woman :o)
What a fun experience! Do you ever wonder if maybe dragonflies (and other creatures) might not be the mindless automatons the size of their brains suggest and might actually have a hint of playfulness in them too?
Now, that’s cool! So these little guys are musically inclined :}
I was the one who mentioned the dancing dragonfly. Yes it was a FuN experience!~!! I’ve noticed it more and more of late though not just with dragonflies, but butterflies, birds…nature in general. You asked:
What a fun experience! Do you ever wonder if maybe dragonflies (and other creatures) might not be the mindless automatons the size of their brains suggest and might actually have a hint of playfulness in them too?
I think it is foolhardy for us to decide the size of one’s brain is comparative to any intelligence. Their brains are the perfect size for their bodies. I believe animals and all life (including plants) are far more intelligent than we give them credit for.
I believe they know full well who YHWH is and they praise Him in their own ways. I have played my guitar outside most of my life and have noticed many times that nearby crickets seem to join in at certain spots that enhance the song…even the tall grasses, leaves on trees and other plants swishing to the music looks like a dance and sounds like a percussion instrument. Perhaps we take too much for granted and are so wrapped up in ourselves and all the stuff we think is so important we just merely miss out on the little things right before our eyes. Missing the forest for the tree in front of us so to speak.
Scripture says in Psalm 96:
11 Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad;
let the sea resound, and all that is in it.
12 Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them;
let all the trees of the forest sing for joy.
13 Let all creation rejoice before the Lord, for he comes,
he comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness
and the peoples in his faithfulness.
Isaiah 44:23
Sing for joy, you heavens, for the LORD has done this; shout aloud, you earth beneath. Burst into song, you mountains, you forests and all your trees, for the LORD has redeemed Jacob, he displays his glory in Israel.
Isaiah 49:13
Shout for joy, you heavens; rejoice, you earth; burst into song, you mountains! For the LORD comforts his people and will have compassion on his afflicted ones.
Isaiah 55:12
You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.
According to these verses All creation the animals, mountains, trees, fields, forests, the sea and all that is in it will burst into song and praise of the Most High Yahweh. I think it is Awesome!~!!
hello :) i have butterflies and dragonflies around me alot ..they land on me and wont leave .. i havent noticed if this happend all my life ..but the last 6 years .. yes alot .. yesterday a butterfly landed on my car and jumped on my hand and was on me for about 5 hours while i worked around my yard ..this is what brought me here .. to see what that meant lol if it meant any thing at all .. cheers
I’m sure it does mean something, but I haven’t worked out what specifically. It happens a lot more often than I would have expected too. I’ll keep you posted if I ever figure out what’s going on!
Hi, I’ve been rescuing dragonflies that are falling into my pond from coming out of their larva form for the last couple days. I’ve been going out all times of the night to check for them. About 4-6 larvae climb out a night, and I have dozens of them scooting around the pond. I drained my pool a month ago and turned the bottom into a water garden tiki bar,(yes there is a bar down there and chairs in the water to sit) and I spend a lot of time relaxing in it. The larva must’ve come in with my tropical lilies because I’ve never seen large dragonflies like these before. Actualy I haven’t seen any for the 30 years I’ve had a pool in my yard. The ones that come around I don’t think they are dragonflies. They are small and have a blue dot on the end of their bodies. Anyway since I’ve been rescuing and fixing stuck bent wings on these things (sometimes taking care of them for a couple days before they can fly away) They are coming back and landing on me. Even newly transformed ones come over and land on me before flying off, a couple at a time sometimes. It kinda gives me the creeps, like they think I’m a dragonfly Dr. Doolittle. I’m not used to any bugs landing on me. I don’t attract bugs not even mosquitos. Bugs have never like me before and the feeling is mutual. I kinda like their attention because it makes me feel special.
Thank you for sharing! And I’m happy to hear that your attractiveness to dragonflies makes you feel special. I would feel special in your place!
Just reading this article and I’m with these 3 people. I am now terrified of them . I live in st. John’s ,Nl Canada . Dragonflys follow me everywhere I was never afraid of them until they started landing on me out of a crowd of us my friends laugh at me all thd time because they always are attracted to me . They get stuck on my shirts and I almost die of heart failure so I keep my distance now if I see one I’m running and not looking back but the reason why I’m writing you today is now they are always around my house!!!!! For hours snacking into my windows !!!! Today I was heading out and putting my daughter in the car and one came flying all around me I was freaking !!!! U jumped in the car and just watched it !!! For 20 min I just watched it fly into my windows what can I do to keep them away !! I actually went to my mothers got my father to come back and try to kill it us rated I’m the car but it wouldn’t go near him please help
I honestly don’t know what to tell you because I don’t know why this happens to some people. I’m sorry that you find them terrifying, though they really are harmless and will help keep mosquitoes away from you. As for why they’re around your house, you probably have some sort of small insect that’s been emerging from your grass, your trees, or other plants that are attracting dragonflies to the area. Whatever it is that makes some people attractive to dragonflies, I’m nearly positive that they are unable to detect you once you’re inside, so I suspect there’s something going on in your yard. If you really want the dragonflies to go away, you can try treating your yard for the insects there. Once their food source is gone the dragonflies will move on to a more hospitable place where there is food available.
I’m sorry I can’t be more help!
From the day we brought our newborn son home from he hospital dragonflies have been around. The first one was at our door when we arrived home, we had lunch a couple of days later and again then as well. No mater where we are the time of day exc…dragonflies are always following us-only when the baby is with us. He is 14 months now and it still continues…they hover over him though or the car or the window but only on occasion land on him.
Interesting! Thank you for sharing!
It’s a beautiful warm sunny september day & I have been reading in the garden. I am writing this message with a dragonfly on my leg. It has been on me for about 20 minutes. It has flown off a few times but keeps returning. My brother experienced the same curious thing a few days ago in the same village but different garden. (kent,uk) ) I assumed it was just warmIng itself in the sun, but I am more curious after reading your article! Thought I would share another 2 examples for you !
Strange! Every time I get someone else telling me stories like this, I become even more intrigued! I wish I could get everyone in one room for a few hours to figure out what they all have in common that the rest of us don’t. It’s just weird!
Today, while my dad was fishing in the gulf, a dragonfly landed in his mouth. Then it flew onto his eye, and rested on his shirt for several minutes. He as in the Gulf.
Whoa! Crazy story! Thanks for sharing.
I’ve had Dragonflies land on me on two occasions. One was in the woods by a creek. I was pregnant at the time and I had two fly and land on my stomach as if to say hello. I know you are a sciencist and it may sound silly to you but I really believe it was a reassurance of a kind. My husband died a few weeks after that. About a month after his death I had a horrible fight with my mom and ended up sitting near a lake to calm down. Once again I had a dragonfly land on my hand this time and stay a long period before I had to leave. Since then I have had many dragonflies appear when I need them the most. I often think the creatures of this planet are aware of things we have long forgotten. We as humans just might have to think more outside of the box for some of their strange behaviors. I know I’ve had to!!!
I don’t think anyone is ridiculous for taking this sort of meaning out of these sorts of experiences. I myself tend to see the more scientific side of things, but who am I to tell someone that their beliefs about an experience are wrong? I wasn’t there, I didn’t see it, and who knows – you could be right! You’re not the first person to tell me a story like this either, so it seems that this sort of thing happens more often than I would have expected. There is a belief in some parts of the world that dragonflies are the souls of the beloved dead returning to reassure their loved ones, so the meaning you’ve taken from your dragonfly experiences doesn’t seem strange or silly to me. Lots of people have these sorts of beliefs about dragonflies, and I’m glad you were able to take comfort from their presense.
Ever since I was a toddler, I have attracted dragonflies. My grandmother told me it was Bc they can sense a good, pure heart. Not sure if its true but as an adult, I still attract them wherever I go, even in places without water, they find me and fly around me and/or land on me. I can literally stand with my hand out just about anywhere and I will have a dragonfly on each finger within minutes. On my bikerides, they come out of nowhere and will fly alongside me for my whole ride (usually 20-25 miles), sometimes they will sit on my shoulder and rest before taking flight again. Ive been fascinated with them all my life, I think they are amazing little creatures. And I love talking to them when they are on my hands, like someone else said, they turn their little heads like they are listening. I would love to know what makes me a dragonfly magnet, but I have a feeling it will remain one of those unexplained mysteries of life. I’m not complaining though, I love it.
I’m so glad to hear from someone who enjoys having the dragonflies landing on them! I know I would, but it seems that most people with your “problem” don’t enjoy it nearly as much as you do. I’ll let you know if I ever figure it out!
Iv recently also noticed that dragonflies are attracted to me.. Mostly wherever i look the go to. Sometimes the come so close infront of me i can see every detail. They always seem to stare me right in my eyes. Iv noticed alot of insects that fly are attracted to wherever i look. I have a question though. I live in NJ and the dragon flies that appear to love me are blackish with a poutch of balls on there back or something. Im not sure and would love to know the history of these dragonflies. Thanks, Joey
Don’t suppose you have a photo of the blackish dragonflies that are following you? There are several options in New Jersey, so it would be nice to narrow it down a bit. Glad to hear another story like this though! I find it fascinating!
No i dont have any photo and cant find any online either.. But yea its really weird. One time i was looking down the street at something and all a sudden 10-15 dragonflies flew right in my path of vision and then i was looking at each one and they would come right to to face and stare me in the eyes. Its amazing there doing this haha i like it.. But if you can list a few maybe so i can look up each on to see what one is the one im seeing would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
Oh wow, your state has a lot of black dragonflies and I could spend an hour looking them all up for you. I wish I had time for that, but I unfortunately do not, so here’s the best I can do right now. Here’s the checklist for your state on Odonata Central:
http://www.odonatacentral.org/index.php/ChecklistAction.showChecklist/location_id/52
It’s got most of the species in your state listed and you can go through the photos (just click on the camera button next to the names) to see if you can find the species you’ve been encountering. Be warned though: your state has a LOT of dragonfly species, and many of them are black. This is not a small project, so set aside a good half hour or more for this.
Sorry I can’t be more specific right now, but I hope this at least narrows down the options a bit.
Thanks i really appreciate it. When i find the same type ill send you a photo =]
It is so strange to come across this. I have been researching the meanings or reasons dragonflies follow certain people for years. I am 24 years old, and as a child growing up I was always fascinated by dragonflies. I would always chase them, catch them, observe them, they are beautiful to me. Well, just about 4 or 5 years ago i started to notice that I was always in the presence of a dragonfly. It didnt matter if it was day or night, hot or cold, where I was, they just always were around. and the odd thing, is that they are very friendly towards me. They always land on me, not really on my clothing, but more my arms and hands…. They allow me to touch them, move them, hold them, everything. Even about 4 months ago I recorded a video of me and a cute little green dragonfly friend, just because I wanted to record the unusual, nice, trusting behavior they have with me. Though I havent had one come around since that little man ( which i found dead a few hours later outside of my door) I ended up on this website today, because I walked outside of my work, I sat down outside and was suddenly swarmed by many of them, at least 20… I wonder why these awesome creatures have such a bond with me? I have for a few years now called them my “minions” lol. Any thoughts on this? Thanks! <3 Teresa
I honestly have no idea! I wish I did – this behavior fascinates me. I’ll keep you posted if I ever learn anything more about it!
ok i think its the black saddle back. ofcourse it was one of the last species on that list haha. but maybe thats why i thought there poutches on its back? That or its not listed… ill try and get a closer look next time the appear.. which wont be long haha
Ah, perhaps I should have at least suggested that you look at that one. That was the first one that popped into my head when you said it was black! Oops. But you probably got to see a good amount of the diversity of the odonates of your state at least, right? :)
haha exactly
Dragonflies have been landing on me for the past 4-5 years … my fingers, shoulders, arms hands, chest, leg … It may seem strange but I speak to them….. they are playful and love it when I spray them with a water hose (they usually travel in pairs.) While sitting on the deck in PA, oftentimes a dragonfly will die directly underneath me. Somehow, it seems that it’s the way it should be… to die where they are loved. There is a strong connection indeed but I cannot explain it. When home in NYC, I see them often. Last year a very large red dragonfly flew into my apartment ….. on the 43rd floor! I feel blessed. I love these creatures. An American Indian Shaman told me that I control the wind and thought perhaps the wind is what the dragonfly responds to. I don’t need to know why ….. It’s a joy. Chris – New York, NY and NE Pennsylvania
Thank you for sharing! And I’m very glad to hear that you enjoy the experience. That’s not the case for everyone, but it warms my heart to hear stories like yours.
Hi my name is moon and ive just stumbled upone yr site as i was looking for a reason why im always surrounded by dragonflies.the first time about ten years ago i was at a lake and a dragonfly started flying around me at eye level looking right at me,it just hovered in one spot,as i turned it would turn with me constantly following and watching me,at first i was worried thinking it could bite or sting,but it didnt,since then im always surrounded,they always look right at me and i feel like ive developed a relationship with them.im a reiki master and healer,much love moon
I don’t have an explanation for this behavior yet, but maybe someday I’ll look into it more. Glad you seem to enjoy the experience though! Not everyone in your situation does.
I have been attracted to Dragonflies since I can remember and they are just as attracted to me. I see Dragonflies as a symbol of blessings. For instance the day my daughter was born a Dragonfly sat perched against the windowsill for a long period of time, the day my son was born a Dragonfly accompanied me to the hospital, when my Bf and I (at that stage) went on our first outing, he was covered in Dragonflies (quite amazed) and I couldn’t help but feel my heart smile, when we bought our house the dragonflies followed and welcomed us as they sat perched against our ceiling, I have forever been followed by Dragonflies and every memory worth remembering has my companions in them. I believe that Dragonflies are my personal totum. Thank you for sharing all your stories and for reading mine :) I am not sure if the companion behaviour could be related to blood type like mosquitoes, I am from South Africa though and have a terminal illness, I was born with it and apparently, as my Mom tells it, the Dragonflies came the day I was born as there are pictures of me as a young child playing with them.
Thank you so much for sharing! And I have no idea what causes some people to be more attractive than others, but I am fascinated by the stories I’ve been hearing. Glad to add your story to my collection.
On Sept. 8th 2012, the first anniversary of my oldest brothers death, we had gathered at the cemetery to pay our respects. We were all standing surrounding his tomb & some of us were sharing stories about him. My mother who was sitiing in a chair began to share her memories of him & began to cry. In that same moment she had extend her hand out just enough to where it was inches from her face. A dragonfly landed on her finger. She wasn’t startled as we would all assume & swat it away. It stopped her from taliking & crying. It was odd to see that it brought her to a sudden peace. It sat on her finger long enough for me to look around at my siblings & see the surprised look on their faces & back down at my mother to see it was still there looking straight at her. Soon after that it flew away. We all had a feeling of how my brother my have been responsible for that. I wish I would have captured it on video. I love to share this story. I love you Jesse!!
You know, I’ve heard quite a few stories like this and I always find them very touching. There are some cultures in the world that believe that dragonflies are the spirits of the beloved dead returning to earth in a new form to let their loved ones know that they’re okay in whatever afterlife they’ve acheived. So glad to hear that a dragonfly was able to bring some peace to your family in a time of loss and grief.
I wouldn’t say my storys are as intense as the first three because its not like dragonflys regularlyy swarm me. I have always seen dragon flys around me but never coming to me except for three times. 3 years ago I was on a canoe trip in Canada, Ontario and a dragonfly came and sat on the front of my canoe without moving for almost a full few hours. Then about a month later on another camping trip a very lathargic seeming dragonfly landed on me and I was able to get him to come onto my finger and sit there …After a while I layed him down on the grass and he died. Nothing happened since then until about a week ago I was sitting on my front porch and a dragon fly came and landed beside me once again very lathargic …I got him to crawl onto a leaf and then onto my hand…I had to go to work so I put him back down and didn’t see it again….weird!
Thank you for sharing!
I believe that dragonflies and butterflies are a symbol of love ones that have passed. I have a dear friend who died suddenly 5 years ago of a brain aneurism. She left behind an 8 month old baby, a boyfriend of 8 years, and a beautiful family. Just crushed us all. Her sister turned 50 and I was invited to her surprise party yesterday. So grateful I went! Her son is now almost 6 and definately has her ful-loving personality, he hammed it up all day. We were doing the cake when all of a sudden this dragonfly flew into the house. At first it flew around a little crazy and got everyone’s attention. Carla’s little boy was running around crazy with it. Carla’s mom, sister, and I all looked at each other and tears welled up in our eyes. I said to them that is a symbol, she is here with us. The dragonfly flew up into the corner and I took a beautiful pic. <3 Not sure how to attach
I’ve received several messages like yours and I’ll admit that I’m surprised by how many I’ve gotten. Thank you for sharing! And if you’d like to share the photo too, I’d be happy to see it. You can e mail it to me at thedragonflywoman on gmail.
It happens to me. This year in the Northwest Province there are swarms of dragon flies and butterflies, and moths. They all hover around me in swarms. The other. Day while sun bathing I had a mixed swarm of flying insects surround me….much to the delight of my two daughters and their friends xxx.
Interesting. Thanks for sharing! Don’t suppose, since you’ve seen a bunch of dragonfly swarms, that you’d like to contribute to my citizen science project? I’m studying swarming behavior and your story adds an interesting twist! More info at https://thedragonflywoman.com/dsp!
My wife has had frequent encounters with a bright red dragonfly recently. We live in Singapore, and have a big garden with a 16ft above ground pool that my wife like to bathe in and regularly reads while lying on her floating bed in the water. “Ruby” started to buzz around her, not even bothering when our huge German Shepherd comes by. Within time, Ruby was landing on her leg, and now likes to sit on her big toe, or her heel if lying face down. If Vicky holds her hand out she’ll sit there too. Longest has been for 5 minutes! I’ve got tons of photos. She never comes near me at all……..truly amazing :-)
Interesting… I love these stories, so thanks for sharing!
I have had dragonflies come to me and sometimes it seems that they make sure that I notice them. I’ve even had them come to me when I have been in places where I would think they would not be…there were no water sources; I’ve read that they stay near water. Last summer until well into fall, my husband remarked that he didn’t know what it was about me but the dragonflies sure loved me. I see them as a symbol of change and good things to come. Also, I thought I had seen a dragonfly in our town several blocks back from the intersection we were at, so in my thoughts I asked for one to appear there if I had seen one at the previous place. Just before the light turned green, a dragonfly was flying up and down on my left side (I’m blind in my left eye, so it took some real manuvering for me to see it). I was absolutely astounded and felt very blessed!
Just a few days ago, I dreamed that two green dragonflies landed on my head. I have had a lot of places where I search for dream interpretation but am unable to come up with an explanation for them landing on a head.
I’m glad that since you appear to be one of the dragonfly attractive people that you at least appreciate their presence! I hope someday I’ll figure out why so many people seem to have this sort of experience, but until then your guess is as good as mine. Hope you keep on enjoying it!
Well, I have had dragonflies with me since July of 2012. A beautiful dragonfly perched itself in my car on the dash while the window was down, it unfortunately died there, and for some strange reason I just left it there. It was like my travel companion, and on my moms birthday (she passed in 2006) as I was spending time with my sister celebrating my moms life instead of being sad- we went and sang karaoke- as my mom was a singer. My life took a dramatic turn toward happiness, it was that night that dragonfly perched, well almost freeze dried in my car burst into a beautiful array of glittery particles on the air and out my window. During the next 5-6 months, they were everywhere I went from mowing the grass and having them hover in front of my face while I was mowing, to being with the man that changed my heart and life that night on my moms birthday (7-17) and having five PAIRS of dragonflies accompany us around a beautiful lake. My spiritual teacher & mentor that I sought in August informed me dragonflies signify major transformation & blessings, from passed loved ones, the universe! I embrace my beautiful travel companions and I feel empowered by them, they are everywhere, on everything I own just about…and I too am getting one tattooed on me as I feel this is my Higher Power to press on and that big blessings are in store for me and YOU too if dragonflies are accompanying you on this beautiful journey of life. I actually was inspired to establish a Natural healing & Wellness Center – The Healing Fields Wellness Center & Spiritual Retreat in Pennsylvania( check it out on FB) all because a dragonfly landed in my car and perched in my heart. They are life changers- when you see one smile and celebrate the beautiful transformation that will be unfolding!Thanks for allowing me to share my Dragonfly journey with you all!!! May you all be accompanied by dragonflies & blessings all the days of your lives!!! ; )
Glad you enjoy the dragonflies that surround you in your daily life! I know I would.
My dragonfly story is sort of spiritual and some may not even believe me. I have several but I will share just a few. My mother passed away and one day I was going to visit her gravesite and wanted to place flowers but I knew my sister had just done so and I did not want to change them so I looked at a flower shop for something to add to the flowers. I found this beautiful large dragonfly insert and it reminded me of her since we had watched a the movie Dragonfly together. My husband accompanied me the next time I went to visit her grave and while arranging the flowers (I forgot to mention she is in a Mausoleum) I was telling him why I added the dragonfly. He tapped me on the shoulder as he kind of stumbled back and he pointed across the room on the floor. There was the biggest dragonfly I had ever seen sitting on the floor facing us as to be looking at us. I got up, returned the flowers still having the dragonfly insert to her tomb and then walked towards the dragonfly just knowing it was going to fly away once I go closer but it didn’t. I knelt down and touched it’s wings and they fluttered. I touched it again and then it flew and went right to my mother’s tomb, flew around the dragonfly insert and then flew out of the mausoleum. I know normally dragonflies do not get that big. It had to be 6 inches long. This is in Florida. It was blue with black and yellow stripes. It was beautiful. Well from that moment my family and I have associated dragonflies with my mother like she was letting us know she is watching over us or something. Usually if I am thinking real strong about her and missing her, someone who doesn’t know anything about the story will either give me a dragonfly gift or will have dragonfly jewelry on or something. I have several stories but one stands out. I was driving home from work and a swarm of dragonflies flew right towards me as I was getting onto an on ramp. I said aloud “Ok Momma, I will be careful in this traffic.” Well nothing out of the normal happened in the traffic on the highway. I was leaving the highway and was going down the off ramp when another swarm headed straight towards me again. I said, “Ok Momma, I’m almost home and I am paying attention.” I was more aware of my surroundings when I came to an intersection and there was one car in front of me stopped at the stop light. When the light turned green the car ahead of me went ahead but I thought about the dragonflies and I hesitated and let that car cross through intersection before I even began moving. After he got all the way across I had barely even pushed the gas when suddenly an SUV came speeding through the intersection running the red light from the other direction. If I had crossed the interesection as normal I would have no doubt been struck by this SUV and either hurt very badly or killed. The dragonflies and my mother as I believe it, probably saved my life.
Thank you for sharing this story! I’ve heard several like it and there are multiple cultures that belive that dragonflies represent the souls of departed loved ones returned to Earth to reassure the people they left behind. Who’s to say there’s not something more to that belief? And honestly, people’s beliefs have a lot of power. If it means something to you and gives you comfort, then keep on believing it!
My son is now 9 years old and for the past couple of years dragonflies come to him and land on him. He can hold them in his hands and they stay for a long time. He can be with a group of people, but they seek him. It is also not the color of his clothes as it happens no matter what he wears.
Interesting… Thank you for sharing!
I find this article so interesting! I actually just googled, “why are dragonflies attracted to me” to figure out if there was a legitimate answer. I have many stories, but mainly, I go to the beach every weekend in the summer. While laying out with a group of friends dragonflies ALWAYS land one me. I think I had 6 on me at one time, but they don’t have any interest in any of my friends. We’re all wearing the same suntan lotion and we’re within feet from one another. It’s so odd. And after they land, they just rest… I can even move them from my body to my hands and pass them around. I figured they would be scared of me, but it’s like I have some kind of super power. I don’t mind it, I think it’s kinda cool/ entertaining. And it happens almost every weekend at the beach.
Interesting! Thank you for adding your story to my growing list! I find this fascinating and someday I hope to figure out what’s going on. I feel like there HAS to be something going on with this!
My relationship with dragonflies is very similar to some of the experiences I’ve read here. As a child,dragonflies would hover right in front of my face, like they were checking me out. It is a mesmerizing thing. I’ve noticed in recent years they seem to seek me out to the exclusion of their natural habitat. They love to perch on my hand, head, and shoulders. If I don’t brush them away, they will sit there for up to an hour I even had a pair do the nasty right on my hand. How rude.
Ha ha! Would have loved to see that last bit! Thank you for sharing your story and adding it to the large collection of similar stories I’ve got here. I find this phenomenon fascinating, yet I still have no idea what might be behind it. Hopefully someday I (or someone else) will figure it out!
Ever since I was young, dragonflys will perch on my fingers or toes as I am basking in the sun. I have told friends of this and they are astonished when this happens. I have videos of various events and pictures of many occassions this has happened. I can also call them back to be after they fly away and they will come back. I entertained a dragon fly for over a hour as it flew around my yard and continuously landed on my finger several times
Thank you for sharing your story! I appreciate it!
Dragonflies always come to me! They will land on my hands and I can take my hand close to my face and we look at each other. It was weird at first. My granddaughters love it! They are amazed. One of them tries so hard to get the dragonflies to come to her. This happens every summer day we are in our pool! They are precious! I hold my hand up and one always comes . Sometimes I have held up both hands and two come to rest and look. My children think I am some nature woman!!!! Love dragonflies!
So glad to hear that this experience is a good one for you! I think you’re very lucky. Hope you continue to love them!
Greetings from Virginia, USA. Yesterday, while taking my dogs to the nearby river for their daily romp, I had the most unusual dragonfly (or insect) encounter in my 50 years of life. For almost one hour, a huge dragonfly circled the dogs and I very close. At times he would buzz the little Pomchi (who made feeble attempts to catch it) and at other times it would slow in front of my face looking directly at me. I had to leave for a graduation but am certain this would have went on for a much longer time. I captured great video with my cell phone and am editing it now. I was so taken aback with this incident, that I Googled, “Dragonfly encounters with humans” and that is how I discovered your site. My questions…. is this still an active site? Are you still interested in videos and such? Please let me know and if so, I will happily share the video with you. Thank you for your time..
Mike Weiss
P.S. I am a retired Los Angeles Police Officer and former Army Paratrooper. I share that for what its worth in terms of helping to visualize the type of person who is communicating with you :)
Hello! Yes, this is still an active site, even though the post you responded to is fairly old at this point. Glad that you got to have this experience! From your video, it looks like you ran into a male dragonfly who was patrolling the water’s edge for females when you came along. I can’t tell what of two things I think are most likely was happening: 1) that you just happened to be in its flight path and it was going around you as if you were an inanimate object that suddenly appeared in its territory or 2) it was hanging around you and your pup because you might scare up some food for it to eat. The latter has been reported many times for several species of dragonflies, where dragonflies follow large mammals (this is no comment on your personal physique, just a statement that humans are fairly large as mammals go), including humans, because they cause insects that the dragonflies like to eat to fly up as they walk. Did you happen to see lots of little flies along the shore where you were? If so, I would imagine that the latter is a more likely scenario.
That said, I don’t totally discount the idea that the dragonfly was attracted to you and/or the dog for other reasons! As you can see from the other comments on this page, humans attracting dragonflies for one reason or another seems to happen for strange and inexplicable reasons. Perhaps the dragonfly found you alluring! Regardless of the reasons behind the behavior you observed, I am glad that you found it fascinating enough to look it up online and that you took the time to comment. It clearly made a big impression on you!
Dragonflies keeping flying and hovering around me.I am now very scared of them.They don’t cling to me,though.Whenever I see a dragonfly coming toward,I get scared and run to the closest door inside.
I’m sorry that the dragonflies scare you! They’re harmless to people, so there’s no reason to be scared of them. I’m sure that won’t convince you that you shouldn’t be afraid of them, but I thought it was worth a shot just in case I can change your mind.
Last year I had dragonflies following me everywhere. One followed me from one parking lot to another it followed me down the road back to work. They flew along side me as I drive my forklift. And even hovered over and looked into my windshield at a drive thru. Only my car. It was so strange and the day I decided to look up the meaning of dragonflies, it ended up being the date of my fathers death. After that day I did not see them again until this week. They are back again, following me and landing next to me. It was almost as if my father was trying to tell me he is still with me. They were very persistent, as if trying to reach me. I normally don’t believe stuff like that but they were desperately trying to reach me. Strange. Maybe my white car attracts bugs more. But following my truck and landing next to me. I can’t explain. I love them and have never been afraid of them.
Thank you for sharing your story! I am glad you enjoy the dragonflies and hope that they gave you some comfort when you needed it.
Hi, just came upond this blog from a serch. I wanted to know if anyone else have dragon or damselfies land and stay with them too. just this morning two beautiful damsels landed on me and stayed with me having coffee on my deck. They then followed me to my koi pond and sat again on my arm and leg while I fed my fish. Because we do have a med size koi pond we do atract dragons and dams. People including my husband find it odd that these damsel and dragons land on me all the time ( all most every day) and in different states and different countrys. No one else I know has ever had them land on them even when they sit right across or next to me.. I live in PA but had people surprise at Disney in FL, that they land on me at several buss stops and our resort. In Costa Rica I had swarms of 10-20 land on me in the jungle at a time, Also in Mexico and Cozumle I have had them land. I do love them and find them beautiful, I do think it is a scent thing. I also get bit by misquitos worst then most too. Bees and other bugs dont have any intrest in me. Just wanted to know if others have this happen to them too. Oh BTW this did not happen all my life just as an adult, I think it has only benn in the last 10 or 15 years ? Now that I’ve read some stories I now know there are other drangonfly whisperers! YEA!
Yes, you are definitely not alone in this! As you can see from the many other comments here, lots of other people also have dragonflies arracted to them. I still have no idea why, but I hope one day someone will find out!
After reading your post I just wanted to share my dragonfly experience. I never had one land on me and stay or something like that, but this morning as I was sitting on my deck reading I noticed a dragon fly was sitting motionless on a plant right in front of my eyes. Despite the wind that was blowing and everything, the dragonfly clung to the branch of this plant (mind you, the plant was dead) as we looked at each other for a good 10 minutes, no exaggeration. Every so often he would turn his head (or eyes?) sideways but he stayed like that looking at me and I looking at him for what seemed like an eternity. Then after about 10 minutes, he flew away.
I never knew dragonflies to behave this way and couldn’t tell you the last time I even SAW a dragonfly outside around me! It’s funny when you observe nature and nature seems to observe you back :)
There’s always a chance that the dragonfly was just holding on to the plant because it proved a good perch in the wind, but they are incredibly visual animals. I have no doubt he/she was checking you out while you watched back!
For the past 3 days iv had a searm of 25-30 dragonflys following me when i go outside,if im in the front they all hover above me if im in the back it takes about 3 seconds and there all hovering above me!they get close enough i make eye contact with them but none have landed on me.idk y but its very interesting
Hmm… That almost sounds like a behavior that’s been documented in dragonflies of a few species where the dragonflies will follow mammals because they kick up insects that the dragonflies like to eat while they walk. They’ve learned they can get an easy meal doing this! Hope you enjoyed your little entourage!
My child has multiple dragonflies land on her while swimming in the pool. what is interesting is that they will not go near her twin sister or me.
It IS interesting! Really wish I knew why this happens…
I found your website because it happens so frequently, I was looking to see if it was harmful or they would bite her. All she has to do is put her finger out and they will land on it but the dragonflies will not land on the rest of us
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Sitting on a float in my pool on Atlanta with a dragonfly on my toe. I think it’s mating season and they are posing for the opposite sex or something. I move my toe and it hangs on. Flies away and comes back. Nothing sinister. Pretty cool.
They might very well use your toes as perches to look for mates as you suggested, though they might be looking for food too. Fun experience regardless though! Hope you enjoy it.
Hello Miss Dragonfly,
Dragonflies have been landing on me for years. They would land on my head while I was swimming in the lake, the back or sleeve of my shirt while on land and at times I’d have strangers pointing them out to me. I always thought it was pretty neat and didn’t think much of it. That is until I went tubing with my friend and we noticed a dragonfly land on her knee. I pointed it out and we thought it was really cool. After I pointed out the dragonfly on her knee, 8 dragonflies landed on my legs and arms. It was an occurrence that we will remember for the rest of our lives and has given me a special appreciation for these interesting little creatures.
It was so neat!
I found your site trying to find the reason as to why they are attracted to me. I enjoyed reading the similar stories, Thanks for sharing your knowledge!
Have a great summer :)
How fun! Thank you for adding your story to the collection I’ve amassed here! I enjoyed reading it and hope I can explain it one day.
I actually read this article because I found it very strange that dragonflies seem to be attracted to my infant granddaughter. She is only 5 months old and on 3 separate occasions a dragonfly has landed on her head. Each time was in a different place, one time was even in another TOWN. No one in our family has ever had this happen and twice, my dauther was holding her when it happened. It actually flew between my daughter and the baby before landing on the baby’s head. The fact that it has happened three times is what made me google this to see WHY!?!
It is certainly a sweet thought that it is a loved one that has passed on.
Thank you for sharing your story!
I have very happy dragonflies in my backyard and they will come to me if I hold my hand out. When I am in the pool, I can raise my hand out and one will land. I can bring them so close to my face that I can see them looking at me and see their tiny mouths moving. Sometimes they will sit so long that I think they’ve fallen asleep. Other times, they will fly away and if I keep my hand out, they will land on it repeatedly. Yesterday, my little friend did this six times…he would fly away for 30 sec bursts and then come right back. Feeling them land on you allows for a stillness to come over you and is a wonderful meditation. I wear no perfume or scents.
Interesting! Makes me wonder if the dragonfly might not be using you as a perch to look for mates or food the way you’ve desrcibed it. Sounds like a basic territorial behavior, with you acting as a perch! Do they do it to anyone else around your pool? That’s what I find most interesting about this interaction with people, when they choose one person repeatedly and ignore others, so I’m intetested in knowing whether this is the case in your experience.
Glad you find the experience pleasant though! If you’re attracting dragonflies, it’s good to know that you’re happy with their being there as it would be pretty awful if you were scared of them…
hello I have experienced this phenomenon of dragonflies landing on my fingertip and my sons fingertip while we sit around a swimming pool all we do is wet our finger and hold it up in the air and the Dragonfly comes and lands on our fingertips I don’t understand it but it is really cool I even have video of it on my YouTube page
From your video, it looks like the dragonflies are using you as a perch by the water and are looking for mates and/or food while sitting on your fingers. Do you have any other things around your pool that would give the dragonflies a clear vantage point toward the water? Your fingers look a lot like the kinds of things they like to use as perches in nature, so I suspect they find them more agreeable places to sit than the alternatives in the area. But, I could be completely wrong about this too! Are they doing it to just the two of you, or anyone that comes near the pool?
Here is a link to the video… its been a year since this video were made but we are back at the same pool and they are now landing on my sons finger tip.
Phoenix Arizona .. This happened a few years ago. My wife Kathy and I were in our pool and this lone large orange dragonfly kept circling and circling us as we told it how beautiful it was. It kept getting closer and closer..then Kathy mentioned that perhaps we should both stick one of our index fingers straight vertical as we continued to talk to it..we did and it landed on Kathy’s finger first and just stayed there and stared at her..then it flew directly to me and landed on my finger and did the same. You know how a dog slowly cocks its head side to side as if it is trying to understand or maybe just process what it is experiencing? This beautiful orange dragonfly did the same thing as it just sat on my finger and stared at me..and listened to my voice..it was a HUGE moment!
Sounds like it was an amazing experience! So glad you enjoyed it. If you’re in Phoenix and it was large, orange, and near a pool, I’d bet it was a flame skimmer. They were the most common dragonfly I found near pools in Tucson when I lived there, and I know you’ve got a lot of the flame skimmers up your way too. That would be a spectacular one to have sitting on you!
Hello,my name is chris and i am from lowell ma. I have had many experiences over the years like the three stories. Today it happened again and i wondered if there was any info on this,and i came across your stories. Have you found any explanations yet?
Sorry, no, I still don’t have any explanations for why this happens. I don’t even really know what to suggest might be the cause of this behavior – a scent that someone gives off (either themselves or through their laundry habits)? A behavior? A genetic thing? Something completely different? It’s a very off behavior, but judging from the huge variety of stories people have shared here, I suspect there may be several causes for it, even if the end result is the same. Hope you enjoy the experience though! I know I would, but I also know that a lot of people don’t like it and it can be very unpleasant for them.
Ok so I’m sitting in my backyard right now and I Google is it just me or is there something about dragonflies. I’ve always experienced everything above minus them dying. Right now I’m in my backyard with an audience of them. I’ve experienced what I figured was territorial behaviour. Swooping at my face ect. Accompaniment where they perch beside me almost as if hoping to communicate. I noticed its always when I’m sweating. Might be a pheromone we release when we feel scared that puts them in either an investigate or attack mode depending on previous experience with human contact.
It might have something to do with scent, but I can’t say that with any sort of certainty. I can say with much greater certainty, however, that you’re way too big for a dragonfly to try to attack and that you really don’t need to worry about the dragonflies that come near you. Except under exceedingly rare circumstances, they’re harmless to people.
Thanks for sharing your story here though! As you can see from the very long list of comments on this post, you are not the only one who has this experience.
Ha! I’m so glad I found this post!! I just moved from the west coast (very few dragonflies – not much humidity where I was) to the east coast (9-zillion percent humidity and dragonflies EVERYWHERE). I’ve been attracting them like crazy.
Reading about accompanying behavior, I now have to think perhaps it’s something to do with my scent – or rather what my scent does. I attract mosquitoes. I’m basically a blood-sucker Sunday brunch. I can’t leave the house without being sprayed to the 9s with mosquito repellent, otherwise I end up eaten alive (and I’m allergic – my bites turn into welts & large scarred patches that itch for months). Lately, I have a dragonfly entourage. It started with one, a big guy on the back fence. I thought he was neat, and being an entophile of epic proportions, I ran into the house to get my camera. When I came back out, he flew to me, landed on my shirt, and then took flight to perch on the fence. He let me get scant inches from him and never flinched, just sat there while I snapped away. Just today, out hiking, I had one land on my legs and refuse to leave — just clung to me. I eventually had to physically haul him off my bare legs and put him on a bush. Later, I had a damselfly land on my hand. I tried passing him/her off to my daughter to hold, and it kept flying back over to land on me. Eventually it tired of sitting with me and flew off, but it was a bit surreal, seeing the refusal to go to anyone else when it readily landed on me.
I tested my attraction later with a pair of damsels that were hovering overhead. Put my hand up and they landed like tame canaries on my finger.
What gives? So very interesting.
That is a very good hypothesis for what might be happening with the dragonflies! I think you might be right about that. That said, I do not attract dragonflies and DO attract tons of mosquitoes, so there is likely something else (or multiple something elses) at play too. It’s a fascinating behavior, though I doubt it is something very easily explained away in cases like yours or the people whom I described in the post. I hope I will be able to learn more about it someday!
Allow me to say, however, that I’m very envious of your experience. How marvelous! I would love to have that happen to me…
Hey, this sort of thing just happened to me today. I am a full time student at the University of Calgary and am currently working part time as a Metal Worker for the summer, I am constantly working outside under the sun 8-10 hours a day. I have never experienced dragonflies accompanying me or ever landing on me before until early on this morning. I have no idea how long this dragonfly was clinging onto the chest of my high frequency vest, I at first sensed something strange as I was carrying on my daily duty it wasn’t until later that I realized I had a companion along for the ride. At first I was startled looking down at this dragonfly, I thought maybe it was dying or sleeping.. I don’t know. As I observed the dragonfly for the next minute or so I realized it was pretty big; had brown/tanned eyes, brown body with black stripes. I tapped its wings, its tail and I even nudged it a little bit seeing a slight reaction with its legs moving a little bit. But it just continued to sit there staring right back at me. To be honest I was kind of creeped out, so I brushed it off my chest. I can say it was probably for the best, I didn’t want to crush it. But I also felt really bad and instantly regretted doing that as it fell down on one of the panels looking stunned. I hope it isn’t the last time I experience something like this, I just wish I could have reacted a little better. Call me crazy, but maybe it’s something beyond just the scent? Like in behavior or someone’s spirit? Bah just speculation really, and I really enjoyed reading this article.
I have no idea what is causing this behavior, but it’s a lot more common than I expected judging from all the comments this post gets. I tend to lean toward the more scientific explanations of scent, people attracting other bugs that the dragonflies like, people stirring up bugs that the dragonflies like, or the people this happens to may even be giving off a light pattern that the dragonflies like. But honestly, I don’t know and it’s all just speculation, so your guess is as good as mine!
Thank you for sharing your story though! I appreciate your adding it to my growing collection of odd dragonfly tales here.
I don’t live very close to water. I have seen dragonflies around while working in my gardens in past years. This year, I seem to be attracting them here and anywhere else I go. They dont land on me, but they do land very close. They let me slip a finger up to their legs, the way you would get a bird to light, but they only move their heads. It’s happened 8 times today, alone.
If you’re seeing them in a garden while you’re working in there, I’d bet you’re seeing a behavior where the dragonflies are attracted to the area by food, the little insects you stir up while you work. It happens more than people expect, and it can be quite a ways from water! I get reports of this sort of thing happening when people mow or garden or trim trees/shrubs in my dragonfly swarm project often, so it’s not an uncommon event. Hope you appreciate the free mosquito control they provide! :)
Yesterday while sitting outside I had 3 dragonflies circling me and landing on me at different times over a period of an hour. If I put my hand out they would land on my hand. I was even able to pick it up in my hand when it landed on my leg. Being a lover of dragonflies and collecting them and even having a tattoo of one I was mystified by thrilled by their behavior. I stumbled on this page when I googled to see if anyone else has ever had the experience before.
Thanks for adding your story to my large collection! I appreciate it.
Hello, I happened soon your site because I have recently move into a neighborhood with large amounts of dragonflys and they have been swarming and following me around as I do yard work, but this has also reminded me of something I witnessed as a child. My uncle attracted dragonflies like crazy, he was a little “crazy” and would walk around the neighborhood all day, and he never wore a shirt. Dragon flies would land all over him and just go for a ride as he walked the neighborhood. Of course this just added to the bizarreness of him. But it never failed, as soon as he went out side there would be the dragonflies, landing in his shoulders or he would hold up his arms and they would land on him like a pet bird. A very strange thing indeed.
How cool! Wish that happened to me… Thanks for sharing!
I had the most curious thing happen to me today… A dragonfly darted in front of me twice as I was walking, it almost seemed as if wanted my attention, or it was following me. When I realized what it was, I stopped and stretched out my hand I said “come here” offering him a place to land. He landed and my finger and I brought my hand in closer and said “hi” it responded by waving only one of its legs! I giggled with amazement and moved my other hand to get my phone out of my pocket… he flew away. I said “don’t be afraid, I just wanted to take a picture.” He landed on the railing and I snapped a picture of him.
I thought that was the best thing that could’ve happened to me! I found your site after trying to find out if this was common dragonfly behavior. :)
Interesting! Thanks for sharing your story here. I appreciate your experinence becoming part of an increasingly large collection of similar stories!
Over the weekend while sitting outside on my deck I noticed 3 dragonflies circling around me. Over a period of about 1 hour they were taking turns landing on me! I kept putting out my hand and they would circle and then land. They would even let me pick them up when they landed on my leg. I was thrilled! I never had an experience like that before and stumbled on your website here when looking to see if anyone else has ever had the same experience. I am hoping that at some point I will be able to have that experience again :)
Glad you enjoyed it! I know I would have.
My experience with dragonflies started after my son passed away in 2004. I don’t know what, if anything, it means, but it has brought me a great deal of comfort! I’ve had dragonflies circle around me, land and stay on me the whole time I’m walking my dog, or sit on my leg for 20 minutes at a time. I actually thought this was normal until my neighbors witnessed it several times last summer & started commenting about it. Yesterday I had one follow me around while doing yardwork – wherever I went, he would land within a couple feet of me. It went on for quite a while & gave me the giggles! Today I met a friend for lunch on an outdoor patio and was telling him the story. Later, we saw one hovering around, so as a joke I held out my finger – the dragonfly flew right to it and stayed there! I’m sorry so many are fearful of them; to me, they are so peaceful and beautiful.
I’m so glad that the dragonflies have brought you comfort during a time of horrible loss. I’ll admit that they brought me similar comfort after the recent death of my father, so I can relate to some extent. You’re right – there’s something so peaceful about them. Hope you continue to enjoy them!
This is so interesting! While I don’t think I attract dragonflies more than the average person, I do pick up dragonflies that have had the wind knocked out of them, so to speak, by cars when I go on my walks. Usually I walk the last couple of miles accompanied by a recovering meadowhawk on each shoulder. I think they deter the deer flies!
Hmmm… An interesting insect repellent choice! Might need to try that… :)
i just had a dragonfly chase me around the patio. it seemed pretty determined it was going to investigate me. my family witnessed the encounter, i was holding a lawn chair in my hands to have it keep its distance. i am always the victim of bug encounters. bees, mosquitoes and butterfly’s seem to be the most frequent. i am deathly afraid of bugs. but never have i been bothered by a dragonfly. this was so unusual i was trying to find more information on this behavior.
I have had the same experience for the last half week. I have two buddies that wait on my front porch and then “play” with me or family members when we come outside. I do have a video of one landing on me and hanging out. Shoot me an email and I will send it to you.
Fun! What a great experience. But my e mail was returned to me, so I suspect there’s a typo. If you’d like to send the video, please contact me with my Contact Me form at the top of the page and I’ll tell you where to send it!
What a great thread, I was looking to see if this was normal behavior. I have a farm that has a pond at the back of the 12 acres, so have quite a lot of dragonflies. They land on me at the other end of the property regularly. Today, I had a very interesting encounter no where near water. Like the young lady above, when he landed on my hand I complimented him on his beauty. He flew a few feet away and cam back probably 15 times. There were other places to perch, but he preferred me. (I wear no perfumes, etc.) I had suffered the loss of a loved one, and was told to look for “signs”, so I told the dragonfly on his second landing I thought he was a sign, he nodded yes. Every time he would land I would ask a “yes” or “no” question and got the appropriate response each time. One time though, I told him something that would’ve been disturbing to my lost loved one, and the dragonfly flew away and did a much more animated flight and return, as if it had upset him..I can’t say what exactly this was, but had heard that dragonflies are considered pure in myth. I do wear the Angel of Purity symbol around my neck (it had significance to my little boy who passed). If nothing else, it was a wondrous experience.
What a lovely story! Thank you so much for sharing it. You’ll notice that several other people have shared experiences with dragonflies after the loss of loved ones and it seems that the dragonflies are, by and large, a comfort to those who are left behind. Glad you were able to enjoy the experience, though nothing will ever make up for the loss you have suffered. My deepest sympathies.
My friends call me The Dragonfly Whisperer. I joke and say maybe they think I’m a big tasty bug. I really did not realize the behavior was unusual. They just hang out on my hands or feet, have landed on my legs or shoulders while walking, I even had one stare at my face and try to fly into my eye – to which I laughed hysterically. I have no idea what attracts them but they are wonderful.
So glad to hear that you enjoy this experience! I know I would!
I was searching for info and found this site. I am in Rhinelander, wi and a dragonfly keeps landing on my toe. It flies away and comes back. Ieven went in the cabin for a bit and when I returned to the pier my little friend landed on my foot again.
Interesting! Hope it was an enjoyable experience for you!
I went floating down a river today, and there were many damselflies- but I was with two other people, and I must have had 25-50 of the visit me, landing on three particular parts of my body- I was wearing a bathing suit, and the majority of them landed on my left breast, my left knee, and my pelvis, first just one. then, they came by the two’s even threes- all connected. My friends were untouched, I was just enthralled by it all. I’ve been enchanted all day, thinking about the symbolism, as well as maybe a tangible, scientific explanation as to what may attract them to a human. I then found this site! Anyway, I felt inclined to share. Magic in the air indeed.
Glad to hear that you thought this was a magical experience! I know I would! Thank you for adding your story to my growing list of odonate-human interactions.
I have become a dragonfly photographer because they routinely land on or near me for long stretches. As others describe it, they pose for me. Not all dragonflies do this- I don’t look like a dragonfly goddess ensconced in wings and colors, but they do it frequently enough to be noticed as a pattern. I like to think this happens because they know I appreciate their aesthetic and metaphorical majesty, but I really haven’t the foggiest idea.
Great story! And I’m glad you enjoy photographing them. Me too!
My wife had cancer…a butterfly landed on her shoulder…she beat the cancer…a dragon fly landed on my hand…I put it on a bush and returned later and it got back on my finger….a bumble bee hungout by our back door around March…it seemed to follow me around the pool…huge red wasps would come near and the bee would dart at them, knocking them away…
These are all lovely stories! Thank you for sharing them.
I have had this happen several times with dragonflies. Two of the times I took pictures. One of these times I had a 4 hour drive to make after working all night without sleep. The dragon fly stayed with me the entire drive. In and out of convenience stores. I would move him around and he just stuck around. I even took pictures of me kissing it on the head without a flinch.
I took a picture of me giving the second one a kiss as well. I was just curious if it would let me. The pictures are about a year apart. I’ve done the same with a butterfly with picture as well. I’ve also had a beetle that wouldn’t leave me even after I knocked it off when startled. It crawled back to me and onto my lap.
I’m happy to send pictures if you let me know where to send them. I’ve been trying to figure this out a while now so any information would be greatly appreciated.
I unfortunately don’t have any explanations for you, but I’d be happy to take a look at your photos! You can send them to dragonflywoman at outlook dot com. And thanks for sharing your story! I appreciate your adding it to my growing collection.
I just had an encounter with a dragonfly (my first, really) that led me to this site. I was at standing outside watching the sunrise when something flew into the side of my face, fast. I quickly swatted, thinking it was a cicada, and looked down to see a large dragonfly. The dragonfly was stunned for a second but almost immediately flew away. It hit my face so fast and so hard that I could feel it even after it flew away. I’m still a little shaken by this as I’ve never had such a large insect come in contact with me like that.
I haven’t read through the nearly 200 comments on this post but I did read a few that encouraged the sharing of stories so this is mine. Not sure what I’m even looking for by posting this but I had to share, as even now I can still feel where the dragonfly came in contact with my face.
Interesting! It’s actually rather rare for a dragonfly to hit someone like that, but not completely unheard of. Thanks for sharing your story!
We live in a rural area and the land has a small creek a half mile in the woods. I would go outside and see the dragonflies and carry on with my business. One day I was standing (completely still) outside talking to my mom. I saw a dragonfly hovering near me so I slowly stuck out my arm thinking it would flee. To my surprise it landed on me! This occurred when I was 16. Since then dragonflies have been attracted to me. They follow me and land on me, I’d even go so far as to say they kind of hang out with me. Family and friends comment on it. The dragonflies bypass everyone around me and come to me. I’m 21 now and this still continues. I ride horses and my riding instructor comments all the time about the dragonflies. They will fly right beside me and the horse. There favorite spot is right above my shoulder. Just today as I was walking out to the arena with 2 other people there dragonflies changed their direction and flew within touching distance around me. dragonflies follow me as i walk (in the yard, woods, on a horse, etc). They are like fairies. Butterflies will also land on me. This occurrence is unique and I think it’s amazing. I’m just curious.
Interesting story! Thanks for adding your experience to my growing list of similar experiences. Hope someday I’ll know more about what’s going on with this!
This just happened to me. I live in SE Texas and they’ve always just been around. Since I was a kid they have seemed to like me more than others. Just now I was watering my garden and a large one with a green body and shiny blue tail fle within a foot of my face and just hovered there..staring at me. For about 10 minutes it just hovered around me staring at me from different angles. Then I pointed my finger at it and, laughing, said “you stop it, you’re freaking me out” and right on cue it bonked its head right into my finger. It came to me..I was holding still. My husband witnessed it as well. It only did that once, but it continued to hover and stare until I went inside. Very strange and very interesting.
How cool! Sounds like a green darner, and that’s an odd experience to have with that species. Thanks for sharing!
ok so my story starts when i was planting grass in my back yard during the florida summer. out of nowhere came a blue dragonfly and it came very close to as to say who are you and what are doing here? it continued to hover around me darting back and forth and towards me so i moved to the other side of the yard. well he/she came right with me acting the same way. no water was around. so i was not sure if they bite, but i was not sticking around to find out.
They don’t bite – and will eat things like mosquitoes that do. I consider you lucky to have had this experience!
Hi there I have experienced this happen to me several times before. It happens pretty often actually. I once was in my local park with my sister and my dog and had one land on my shoulder and stay there for several mins my sister got pictures of it. Another time I was fishing with my friend and we were fishing on a small dingy and 3 or 4 possibly more of them landed on and around me only on my side of the boat, he couldn’t believe it. I’ve had them even when in the car before pulling out of the driveway have them hovering outside my car looking directly at me. Strange right? I heard from a spiritual woman that dragonflies accompany people who have lost someone that they loved and cared for. Which I did lose my step father at a young age. I believe this is the reason they are around me. I like to think it lets me know he’s still watching over me :)
A lot of people have the same thoughts about dragonflies, that they’re looking over people left behind by loved ones. I’m glad the idea gives you comfort, and that you like to have the dragonflies around.
Today I had a peculiar occurance. Which led me to do a quick search curious about it. Your site was all I could find about it.
First off I will share that there is a body of water in town but it quite a ways off from where we were at. Also we had just had a lot of rain the past two days or so. I went into the yard and sat down playing my guitar and praising YHWH. I was quite into playing and fairly oblivious to anything other than relaxing and singing; when this dragonfly zips up to me and just hoovers in front of my face. Then it decides to land on my sandal. I was stunned as I didn’t know they would land on people at all. This critter just sat and blinked. It flew up a few times and I thought it was going to fly away each time when it decides to land in the same spot again. The last time I reached out to grab my camera to take a picture it again flew up and then came to rest again not quite on the same spot but close to. I got a picture, not quite as close up as I was hoping, and then it flew off. I have always been in awe of all YHWH critters and creation…though I admit I hoped it wouldn’t bite!
I do have to add to this that I have had animals follow me since I was a child. Most animals like me and are drawn to me for some peculiar reason. I have had people make comments about it whenever it has happened in front of others, I just thought it was neat.
I am also a mosquito magnet it would seem. Later after this I did notice we have quite a few mosquitos, gnats and the like around the yard in various places.
I was wearing mostly greens and a bit of blue. I wear no scents. No beauty products like make-up.
As I said, I was playing guitar when it happened as well…are they attracted to vibration or sound waves? I’ve tried to include everything I could think of that I noticed in some of your previous posts. I like learning the why of things as well…it does seem that it is actually pretty common though ;o)
It was peculiar though I did enjoy the experience and was in awe at seeing one up close and in action…man do they zip zip zip around!~!!
I really only saw the front of it. It appeared to have a red face and the eyes blinked several times. I believe the wings were out so I am pretty sure it was a dragonfly not a damsel. The only dragonflies I have ever seen were green/blue. Other than the face I did not get a very good look I was trying to hold still…I can’t compare with the others I have seen cause this is the first time I actually saw one not flying to see it’s face LOL!~!!
Interesting! Thanks for sharing your story!
I have experienced this too. I even have a picture of one that landed on my finger. When I was younger I use to be afraid of dragonflies. Now im 26 and Im very intrigued by what these things can do. I now have no fear of dragonflies at all and I actually enjoy they’re company. Some of the colors they exhibit are just beautiful. So again day after day when I went home for my lunch break at around noon I would see the dragonflies on a daily basis. I live in Illinois so really only a few months a year they around. usually when its sunny and hot. But again on my lunch id observe them landing on my car antenna. Then the dragonfly would do a couple laps around the driveway and then land back on my car. What I would assume was this was the same dragonfly id see for a week straight before id see a different one. But one day I stuck my finger next to the antenna and for awhile there the dragonfly would buzz off if I got too close but then it would come back and land on the antenna while my finger was still there. Once again it fly away again when I moved closer and it would do a couple little laps and it would fly right by my finger and then back up and then move closer, then back up…….FInally after a day or 2 of trying this over and over again the dragonfly finally landed on my finger. Once it did it was just sit there facing me,,,,almost as if the dragonfly was looking right at my eyes trying to figure me out. From my experiences I think they are very intelligent little creatures and I think either you build a bond with one or they are just very curious as to what we are. Obviously they know we are not food but I think honestly that species can evolve and I think they are slowly evolving to be our friends. From previous stories I have read some people attract bugs when they are out and maybe the dragonflies are starting to know this as a fact and have learned to use us as an accomplice. to they’re feeding frenzy. Very interesting topic. Heck even today when I was outside of my work I sat on the bench and watched a dragonfly circle in front of me. It was moving very quickly and would whip right past me. So I stuck my finger and it would just pass my finger but wouldn’t land. Seems like certain ones have more guts to try this than others.
Glad you are not longer scared of dragonflies! That’s helpful when you have these sorts of encounters. Thanks for sharing your story!
I’m actually searching for why are dragonflies so curious and found your blog. I live in Ontario, one day my boyfriend and I took a walk on the trams canada trail and we were just walking along having a conversation and I noticed that a red dragonfly was following us. As we walked he would fly along but he would always turn to face us. He would fly a few steps ahead, land on a piece of grass and face us, we would catch up and he would do it again. For a very long time this went on I was amazed. Just the other day my mom said something about dragonflies being very curious. I haven’t gotten into detail with her about it yet but often I walk through a field by my house and they seem to land on grass near me it seems like they’re curious or they like me? I’m not sure but now I’m really curious!
There’s a good chance that the dragonflies you’re seeing are hoping you’ll disturb some of the little insects in the area as you walk so they can eat them. This behavior had been documented in several dragonfly species and seems to have been something the dragonflies have learned: that large mammals (such as humans, cows, antelope, etc) are really good at kicking up the insects they want to eat and following said large mammals can result in some very fine dragonfly dining. The way you described your encounters makes me think this is what you were seeing – a very cool behavior!
That is very cool thanks! I actually wondered if that was the cause since Mosquitos and those little nats tend to bother people on walks I thought maybe he was hoping for some food! Thanks for the info can’t wait to tell my bf and mom! :)
I havent experienced swarms of dragonflies, in fact I’ve only ever seen 2 or 3 dragonflies in the same field at any given time. However, over the past month I have had them land on me, for the first time in my life. The first incident with one I named Perry, for his periwinkle coloring, found me at a lake in the mountains. When he first landed on me I was so excited. I’ve always loved dragonflies and even got a tattoo on the back of my neck. He sat for a few moments and then flew away. He then came back and sat a little longer this time. When he flew away I watched him fly so far he left my view and I thought he was gone for good. But he came back! This time resting on my arm for 10-15 minutes before a splash scared him off. I didnt think anything of it until this weekend when i was at the park with my son. Another dragonfly, this one a pea green color, landed on my leg. My son came over to see and even in the commotion he stayed. He did leave after about a minute, but then came back. And stayed for about 2 minutes. It wasnt until then I started wondering why they kept landing on me, and realized that even though the ones at my son’s football field didnt land on me, I always saw one resting on the rope in front of where I was sitting. This got me nervous because I know some animals can sense illness and, I was hoping that wasnt the case with me when I googled what does it mean when a dragonfly lands on you, and found this page. Would be interesting to know why they suddenly feel comfortable landing on me. But for now I’ll just enjoy the miracle of nature.
How interesting! Thank you for sharing your story. Wish I had an answer for you!
We have a small-nature pond in our garden, and this year we had 5 dragonflies hatch, my husband and I were lucky enough to watch the whole process twice, something I know I shall never forget, so amazing. We have had 4 dragonflies come into our house in the last few weeks. It’s as if they have come home to die. I’m sure it’s just a romantic idea, it’s just odd and probably a huge coincidence that we had 5 black and green (sorry I don’t know anything about them) come from our pond and now we have 3 dead ones and one which is clumsily flying about waiting for him time too.
How odd that they’re coming into your house like that! I wonder if they might be seeking a warmer place as they near the end of their lives and just happen to be finding their way into you house.
Your black and green dragonflies sound like female pondhawks, either eastern or western depending on where you live. Fun that you got to see them emerge!
Hi There,
I was wondering if dragonflies give off any warning signs for mosquitoes that a predator is near? Maybe a scent or the sound of the dragonflies wings? i ask because i am conducting a study for a university experiment on how to repel mosquitoes without bug repellent, and am researching mosquitoes natural predator to find a deterrent .
Thanks!
I don’t know! It’s possible they warn mosquitoes, but I doubt they do. They eat a lot of them, so it wouldn’t do them much good to warn them first!
September 28th, 2013…Georgetown, Texas…I have been noticing dragonflies coming right up to my face and almost moving back and forth, getting a good visual of me….I really have not thought anything about it, other than that is the norm and it must be some sort of “season” for them…it has been going on for a while, HOWEVER, tonight…the most beautiful site I have ever seen, next to seeing the bats fly out from under the bridges in Austin, Texas, I looked up and there was at least 50 plus dragon flies dancing – swarming – right above me….almost putting on the most beautiful show…it was almost like the bats…however, they would not advance to another location – they were in my eyes view and I almost felt they were doing this just for me…I thought it strange…I looked around to see if it was pure coincidence, and maybe they were in other spots, but they would dance together in harmony….tons of them…and then some of them would fly, per usual, right in front of me – zig zagging, eye-level and return with the other amazingly beautiful swarms….this went on for a good ten minutes – I even got footage on my cell phone…I then goggled what dragon flies symbolize and wanted to know if that was something out of the norm…I have never had one land on me, but they are always around me – very close – almost keeping an eye on me. I am not afraid of them and I find them beautiful creatures, as I do all winged creatures…but this show they put on, which was in fact, for my eyes and soul only, made my soul smile, and of course my mouth. I am pretty sure they are some sort of divine messengers – of what – I’m not sure. I find them beautiful and in my mind I thank them for their performance and for seeing me and approving of me in their out-of-this-world acceptance and ability to warm my soul to the very depths. I also have a connection with birds…they would call me an augur in the old times….I was also sitting outside a hotel with friends one night – let me add that I have always had encounters with these insects too – but there were a zillion lady bugs (good luck I’ve heard) all around me and all over me…I mean it was so noticeable, people were commenting. Something with the ability to take flight…I”m still at a loss, but I know it is a great sign…and an absolute blessing to have witnessed and taken part in something as beautiful as orchestrated telepathy, in a sense, and acknowledgement from a species so far removed from our own.
I also have dragonflies follow me. They generally don’t land on me, but it happens a lot that I’ll be in the yard & they fly towards me & follow me while they will not do this with others in the yard. Last week I was visiting sisters in Florida and a swarm came flying toward me on the beach & left and the same thing happened to me on a boat while watching for dolphins. I told my sisters about it and found it strange because they never see dragon flies like that around them. They seem to cross my path very frequently even when not around water. I also happen to see a lot of blue dragon flies. Don’t know what it means, but I find it very peaceful, but very curious why. This has been happening for probably 3 or 4 years that I’ve really taken notice.
If the dragonflies are following you while you move, there’s a good chance they’re using you to rustle up food for them. It’s a behavior that’s been documented in several dragonfly species where they’ve learned to follow larger, ground dwelling animals because they kick up little insects, the ones the dragonflies like to eat, as they walk. As for the swarm, sounds like you were in the right place at the right time to see part of a migration! Cool! Consider yourself lucky to have seen it. It’s not a super common sight!
Hello,I have always liked Dragonflies,And have had them in my yard every summer.They never paid attention to me,And i’f i got close to them,I’f they had landed somewhere they would fly away.Until recently…..I had a complete thyroidectomy 25 days ago.And two days after my surgery i was outside ,With my daughter and a big Dragonfly kept flying around me,Then hovering close looking right at me,Same thing happened today,I was outside with my boyfriend,The dragonfly paid no attention to him ,Just me.I am curious too,As to why the dragonflies have started doing this to me. I’f possible please keep me updated with any information you may have.Thank You,Have a Great Day :)
Interesting! Thanks for sharing. Hopefully I’ll know more someday.
I have been searching for why this.happens for years, since I was a child.growing up in alas I have been followed, landed on by dragonflies, damselflies, moths, butterflies and bumblebees. Most recently in the years since I have moved to Idaho I seem to attract ladybugs, flies, and birds. It’s all very weird to me but I don’t mind. I’ve had damselflies refuse to get off me recently when I was sunbathing I had a bird land on my back p
Glad you seem to enjoy the experience! If you’re going to be attractive to insects, it’s nice to be a person who enjoys their hanging around. :)
Your Welcome ,Have a Great Day :)
Hello from Miranda Sydney Australia. I too seem to get a visit from dragon flies , but i get only one at the time, but at the same time every year. I always flies into my house then waits for to guide out, after staring at me for a while. I am always alone when they , then they go again. 3rd year in a row this day
Interesting! Thanks for sharing.
Hi there.
I’m writing to you from South Africa. Marloth park, Kruger park. Myself and my girlfriend went for a rather long distance hike today and was followed by 2 dragon flies and a 3 rd one with black wings and yellow tips on the edges. Rather beautiful. They follow us for almost the entire journey. It was a very strange experience but very special.
Kind regards
Riaan Barnard
Ooh, I bet you were seeing some sort of following behavior! Dragonglies are known to follow large mammals (like humans) because they stir up all kinds of prey insects as they move. If I’m interpreting the behavior correctly (whcih of course I can’t know for sure, having not been there myself), then you and your girlfriend were probably creating a sort of dragonfly buffet as you hiked! I’m sure they appreciated that greatly.
Found this thread while looking up song lyrics for ‘Dirty Paws’. How about a dragonfly comming in a car window at about 60mph {the car}, riding for about 20 miles, on my shirt, and flying out the window at the next off ramp after hovering at my face, then, gone. My girlfriend who was next to me, said it was a spirit catching a ride. I’ve always liked dragonflys, thought they were special creatures and hoped she was right.
ramp?
Wow! That’s a crazy weird experience! Never heard one like that. I don’t even know how to begin to interpret that once, but how cool that you got to experience that. Glad you enjoyed it!
Same has happened to me but didn’t start until a few years ago, to the point I can call out “hey Dragonfly buddy!” and it comes just like a dog, they will land on me or next to me, my parents were astonished and thought I was nuts until I brought them outside and said watch this, called my friend and he came mere seconds after I called…he would let me take beautiful close up pics of him it was amazing, and now they come whenever I call when im in need of some spiritual healing, my bf thinks its amazing, he has never seen a dragonfly close up until he met me….I do believe they were sent to me for healing purposes and now I just love them!!
What a great story about an amazing experience! Thank you so much for sharing!
It was late summer last year and I was finishing some new planting, when I noticed my entire back yard was filled with a swarm of dragonflies. I live on a 1 acre lot, and they filled the back yard! They were only in my yard, not into the hay and corn field behind us. I stood and watched, one flew right in front of me and hovered there. I felt the urge to put my hand out and see if any would land, but didn’t. I assumed they were there to feed on insects, but wondered why just my yard. The only other notable experience I had was when at my brother’s funeral, we returned to our vehicles from the funeral home, to find a dagonfly sitting on the center console of our SUV which had been closed up and locked. He didn’t fly in with us, but was just sitting there and we noticed it after getting in. We opened the doors and it flew out. I found your site by googling behaviors to discover if the swarming was normal behavior.
Now, that’s different! Around here we’d call that ‘special’. I’ve thought the reports of the ‘following’ behavior that these creatures sometimes exhibit may have to do with pheromones, but that’s just my layman’s opinion. But that certainly wouldn’t explain you ability to call your buddy to you. I’m at a loss on that one, but it’s very cool.
I had a similar experience too. but not that many dragonfly. I was in the Middle east (KSA) in 2010 when a large orange dragonfly flew above me and landed on my head. I tried bugging it off away but then it came back.
Then when i went on vacation, another dragonfly keep following me the whole day. Lastly, awhile ago… when i was changing my tire, (here in Qatar), another dragonfly came and stayed on the wall the whole time i was changing my tires. really weird.
How fun! Hope you enjoyed those experiences!
I bought my mother a very beautiful dragonfly necklace and she always wore it! Actually she never took it off. In August she passed away :( Shortly after I was in my back yard and a dragonfly flew right up to me…over and over again. It landed right in front of me and I swear it just stared at me. I was absolutely amazed by this, as for it was so unusual and strange. Nothing like this had ever happened to me before! I got right up to its face and said something to it with tears in my eyes. It stayed for so long looking at me but I finally had to leave. Also, it looked like the one on my mothers necklace. I was not looking for them, but after this I started seeing real dragonflies and examples of dragonflies everywhere. My latest experience was yesterday and one flew up to me again and landed right in front of me. They usually fly around me then land right in front of me. It stayed there for hours. I called my husband over to look because I have told him and others about this and wanted him to see first hand what I mean and to believe me. This sounds crazy but I actually talked to it by saying “stay here, I will be right back” then I left and got my camera and a towel to stand on because ants were around my feet. When I came back it was still there!! I was able to get pictures from every side of it because it just stays there for me staring at me. I could put the camera up to a inch away without the dragonfly moving. I probably could have touched it. I also came back in and got my daughter and she came out and it was still there for us. She could not believe it. I finally had to go in because mosquitos were biting my ankles and I saw my son pull up. I’ve never considered myself that good with camera’s or filming, but a little while later I showed my son all the pictures and they turned out perfect absolutely amazing, probably since the dragonfly just sat there for me :) and then I said to him “I bet it is still there”. At this point it was almost dark and him and I went outside to see. Guess what…. it was still there. It saw him and then it flew away. It was dark now and most of my family has seen the dragonfly. It had stayed there at least a couple of hours!!! Also, my dad said that he has a dragonfly that persistently hangs out with him when he does yard work. I don’t think he ever experienced this in the past either. I really don’t know what to think, but I do believe it is some type of sign. I miss my mom so much and nothing like this ever happened to me before. I wish I understood. :(
I’m so sorry for your loss. It’s very hard to lose a parent. You are definitely not the only person who’s had this experience with dragonflies however. If you look through the stories posted here, you’ll see other examples like yours and most people who have this experience have similar questions and a need to understand what they’ve seen. I can tell you that I have also PERSONALLY had a similar experience after my father passed away about a year ago. My sister and I saw a bunch of dragonflies in his yard when we were cleaning out his garage/house when we’d never seen any there before (and I really LOOK for them everywhere I go too). Because I’d heard so many stories about people seeing dragonflies after the death of a loved one, I of course thought about that when I saw the dragonflies in the yard. When I got back home and was hauling things into the house from the Pod I’d rented to move some of my dad’s things home, I heard a sound and looked up. There was a dragonfly in my Pod. It sat there, clinging to the door frame as I went in and out with boxes for long enough that I thought it was pretty amazing. I once again thought to all of those stories people tell me about dragonflies and passed loved ones and now whenever I see certain species of dragonflies I automatically think of my dad. Now I do not personally believe that the dragonflies necessarily mean anything, but there is a lot of folklore that attributes dragonfly sightings after deaths as a sign that your loved ones have returned to tell you that they are okay in whatever afterlife they’ve reached. And, because I have heard so many stories like this myself and the story comes up over and over in historical records, who’s am I to say that there isn’t something to this idea? I will be the first to admit that I don’t know everything and could be 100% wrong about what I believe. Personally, I say that if the dragonflies give you any sort of comfort in this hard time, take advantage of it. Even if they just make you think about your mom and the happy times that you had with her because you associate dragonflies with her, that might be enough to help you through this hard time just a little bit better.
Again, very sorry for your loss.
This is a funny article because I just came inside where I was outside with my dog and several dragon flies were following me around. I started to dance around and run and they were chasing me, it kind of freaked me out. I quickly came inside to research if they bite or anything and found this article.
Except under freakishly rare circumstances, you’re perfectly safe with dragonflies around you. You can have thousands swirling around you (and it happens!) and never have a single one come into contact with you. I wonder if they might have been using you to stir up the little insects they feed on… They’re known to do that in several species and it would explain why they appeared to chase you!
I have a similiar expierence, I have a dragon fly that when I stand in front of the garage it comes up to me and hangs out with me for the entire time I’m out there. It acts like it wants to get on my hand it hovers inches from me. It was doing the same thing to me last summer and now again this year. Sometimes it will hover in front of my face it is definitely a strange acting dragon fly. Everytime I go out there it comes right back!
Interesting! Thanks for sharing!
I live in southeast Louisiana, to the south of New Orleans a bit and we have the large fire-colored dragonflies as well as some smaller blue and green ones. They hover about me when I come out to my back patio and hang by or on me while I water the plants and do gardening chores. Sometimes I put my hand or forearm out and one will light on me shortly. Sometimes they sit on my gardening hat. My boyfriend noticed them hitching a ride a few times. They don’t hover around boyfriend as much. They are quite out-going, friendly and make me feel at ease. We have tons of mosquitos and dragonflies come to the all-you-can-eat buffet. I look forward to their visits each year. Other insects have accompanied me for whatever reason, but I find the dragonflies less obtrusive.
Interesting. Thanks for sharing! Glad you are enjoying the pest services your dragonflies provide as well. :)
Just came across your blog while searching for reasons dragonflies are attracted to certain people. My husband always has dragonflies landing on him. When he tries to gently push them off, they actually resist and won’t fly off. He has to literally grab them. He also has butterflies that like to land on him, which makes me very jealous ;) I wonder what the attraction is to my husband and others. Hmmm…
I still have no idea what’s going on with this behavior, but you can see from the number of comments on this post that it does seem to happen to a lot of people. Someday I hope I’ll figure out why!
I too am currently being courted by a blue dragonfly in Florida. Whenever I come outside to the screened in patio, I have a friend that flys back and forth until I step outside. That’s when the real fun begins! This beautiful creature circles me, landing briefly on either side if me , flirting before allowing me to to stretch out my hand, move my fingers right up under its face and it climbs right on to my finger. It sets for a moment tang then flies a bit higher and settles in the palm of my hand. We do this everyday! I feel quite honored. There are green dragonflys around as well and they circle me too but I haven’t developed a one on one with any others YET.
Dragonflies have been following me beginning about ten years ago when my father passed. Blue dragonflies first appeared to me at a lake where my father and I loved to visit frequently. Blue dragonflies would appear pretty frequently over the years and they also seemed to have a calming affect. Three years ago, a huge red dragonfly appeared and caused me to question why I had never seen one like that before. Long story short, dragonflies of all colors (red, green, blue, purple, gold, pink, yellow, black, babies) have been appearing constantly. I also believe they have a spiritual meaning. That’s the only reason I can come up with. I have had two very close friends call me at very low points in my life (out of the blue I must add) to ask if I was ok. One friend, who lives across the country, said he was standing around with friends when something flew right at his eye and his friends told him that it was a huge dragonfly. The other friend called me because she came home and had to step over a giant dragonfly that in front of her doorstep. I have had swarms of them fly in front of my car while driving and when my friend and I arrived at our destination about 30 minutes away, there was a swarm of them of all different colors. I could go on and on. I have taken so many pictures of the ones that come to visit. They even land on me, my things, and sometimes let me touch them. It kind of freaks me out (but not the blue ones).
I know it’s crazy, but this same phenomenon happens to me too! It started in my late teens, when I was on vacation on Long Island, NY. I had a large dragonfly perch on me, and it made me a little uneasy because I didn’t want to accidentally squish it. I placed my finger under it and it climbed right on, and proceeded to do the coolest thing I’ve ever seen… After chilling on my finger for a minute, it took flight and did an incredible little flip, then landed right back on my hand. In that brief moment, it had captured a fly and carefully broke off the wings and consumed the body. It was an amazing experience. After his meal he went on his merry way, but I had a few more dragonflies perch on me that summer.
There have been many repeat incidents of dragonfly perching, but most recently two weeks ago when I was at a shooting range taking a pistol class. (My boyfriend is going for his armed security license so I tagged along!) I had dragonflies land on me randomly throughout the day, and everyone thought it was funny, but then eerie since I was the only one they’d choose to perch on.
I definitely changed shampoos and soaps over the years, and clothing styles too. (I used to be a typical angry teen wearing black all the time, so I don’t think the color of my shirt has much to do with my “perchability!”)
It sure is odd, but I love it. They’re beautiful creatures and it’s simply incredible to be able to see them up close and personal.
I also have had dragonflies land on me all through out my life. But yesterday I had the best encounter. I was sitting on the dock and noticed a beautiful blue dragonfly sitting on the chair next to me so I decided to talk to it and I asked it to land on me and it came right over and sat on my hand. It sat for a long time then would fly around me a couple of times then land on me again. It was so fun. My husband then came to the dock and he flew away. I told my husband about what happened and he kind of laughed at me like I was exaggerating the story. The dragonfly came back and was sitting watching us so I said to my husband watch this and said come here to the dragonfly and he flew right over and landed on my hand again. He couldn’t believe what he saw. The dragonfly stayed for awhile then went off the catch some lunch and we did as well. A couple hours pasted and we went back down to to dock for the afternoon. On the way to the dock a small drangon fly caught a ride on my hand down to the water and sat on my hand for long enough that the blue dragonfly from earlier came back and sat on my other hand. Both dragonflies sat on my hands for about ten minutes before flying away but staying close for the rest of the day and stopping by for a quick hello. …. back down to the dock today to see if he come back :)
Dragonflies have always been attracted to me, and I love them. Just today, while taking a break outside at my office, a dragonfly landed on the top of my head and stayed there for a few minutes (I have a photo). He then moved to my bracelet and stayed there for about 10 minutes–even when I moved my hand, he would come right back and sit on my bracelet again. I finally had to politely shoo him away so that I could go back to work. They have always hovered around me and often sit on my arm or hand. I didn’t realize it was unusual at all. I have three great photos I took today of the one that came to visit, but I don’t know how to share them with you here?
This has happened to me many times in my life, ever since I was very young & was afraid of them at that time. I’ve grown to love them, & accept this ‘odd’ behavior, & enjoy them lighting on me from time to time. They are indeed one of God’s most beautiful creatures!
I live on the Rio Grande in Northern New Mexico. I have only lived in this valley for a couple of years and specifically in this spot for over one year. But over the two summers, I always have damselflies following me. In fact watching me and inching closer. Then landing on me for long periods of time. One will land on my hand when I am writing and then ward off others as they try to come close. I know for certain that it is a particular one that occupies the spot on my hand for a period since yesterday I had a 5 legged damself fly land on my pants and watch me. Then it would catch a bug or ward off other damselflies or other bugs and then return to my pant leg, hand or page. Strange and extremely enchanting.
I live in the deep South. Only this year have I noticed the friendly dragonflies. They don’t land on me per se, but like to sit next to me or near me, fly so closely and hover in front my face (like they’re checking me out?). It isn’t just myself, however. It is my 2.5 yr old daughter (she can get close enough to nearly catch them) and my husband. This didn’t happen last year. This is our first full year in our new house, we moved in last spring. I don’t feel one way or another about them, and none of us are scared by them. It doesn’t “feel” threatening. They don’t congregate in any of our neighbors yards and aren’t put off by our 3 cats. They only gather in our front yard (as this is where I go outside to smoke). Often, the same ones return regularly and “hang out” next to me. It’s a fascinating phenomena!
Oh, only the baby walks around, but they don’t follow her. Just let her get inches away. When I’m out front to smoke, I’m sitting down. I wanted to clarify in order to provide the most accurate info possible! They don’t land or hover near my husband as I’ve watched from inside the house. Of course, my daughter can only come outside with an adult. I will see how they behave around her and him without me present. I’m happy to have found your site!
I have a dragonfly (maybe a damselfly? I’m not sure how to tell the difference, but it is smaller & not as colorful) on my finger right now. It landed in our pool a little over two hours ago, seemed to get waterlogged or something and could not fly out. We fished it out and tried to get it dried off by blowing gently on the wings. it has now been on my finger for about 2 hours. Doesn’t move much. Looked like it was “washing its face” at first, but I am sure there was more to it than that. I have a feeling it is dying on my finger. Wish there was something I could do to help it. it will move slightly if I touch legs or the tail, but it just stays put. I seem to attract them as well. They do not often land on me, but they do often fly around me.
since i was young,dragonflies among other ‘things’ have been attracted to me..i’ve always loved how beautiful they are,especially in bright sunlight.if i’m floating on a raft ,or just wading,they’ll follow me and will land on me..i encourage it in fact..they seem to sense the fact that i’m not a threat and that i’m truly attracted to their presence.they’ll actually fly around swooping close to my face as i’m in the water.never had one actually collide.i’m a man btw,and not the least bit effeminate or gay ,but fit the description of what’s termed i think as a ‘super sensitive’ male.many men would see my emotions as being very feminine but i’m not.i believe it’s possible that insects (some at least?)possibally ‘sense’ who is NOT a threat as opposed to sensing who IS a threat..in fact i’ve often wondered if it’s possible that they sense one’s emotional attraction to them.. a kind of pherimones thing..i freak my mother out sometimes because i have this knack or ability to slowly move my index finger right up to a ‘landed’ house fly and literally touch him before he flys away.often times when i do this, a fly will actually crawl on to my finger before flying off..(the fly i mean)..i’ve never fully figured it out ,this is something that i’ve been able to do as far back as i can remember..the dragonfly thing too..i used to go camping with my parents when i was in my preteens..(i’m 59 now).it was happening that far back.//The disadvantage to this however is that wasps and other stinging things are attracted to me and will often get too close for comfort as though curious,not angry..i run like hell..i do not like wasps and bees.but they seem too frequently to like me..friends have laughed at me many times in the past.there could be 6 of us just standing around in the park or at the lake and for no apparent reason a bee or wasp will take after me and not any of them and naturally i run and scream in circles like a little girl ..no cologne ,aftershave or hair products on my body at the time..it’s bizarre./if i could attract women like i attract winged bugs,i’d be a happy man.
I came across this when I was searching what does it mean a dragonfly lands on you because today I was outside sitting on the ground when a dragonfly kept landing on my foot and then sometimes it would fly away but would always come back and land on me again. It was really weird since that never happened to me but it was really cool.
My grandma, who was not scientifically trained but a woman who lived closely with nature, told me that the dragonflies approaching you meant they were looking in our eyes for truth. I believed that as a child, and always hoped a dragonfly saw truth in my eyes (no matter what I’d been up to earlier). As an adult, watching this dragonfly behavior many times, I wonder if they are attracted to our eye because they are shiny and might be small ponds. Just an off-the-wall thought. — Bjo, who is currently painting a dragonfly-decorated silk parasol
I have had the experience with dragonflies for several years. At first one or two would land on my finger and stay for a few seconds. Then the following year, there were dozens surrounding our back yard and when I came out of the house, they would immediately come to “greet me”, flying around me and landing on me. Now, when I am floating in the swimming pool, I have one on each big toe and several on my fingers. They stay there for long periods of time and just float around with me. They will come and stare at me nose to nose. If I go out to the car, several are there and come to the window and stop. We can be riding in traffic, and there will be dragonflies that come to the front of the car when we are stopped. My husband has noticed this behavior and he suggested I go on line to see what we could find. It is very strange, but it is almost like them trying to communicate.
I had a dragon fly sticking to my flypaper yesterday. It was still alive so I slowly removed it and cleaned its wings. It didn’t fly away although the wings don’t look injured. I brought it water and raw cat food I make for my cats. It pushed off any live bugs I brought it and wouldn’t eat them. It is sitting on a branch in a box on my kitchen table. Today I was going to try and bring it outside to get it motivated to fly off, but is rainy and cool. I read they need to be warm to fly. It wants to latch on to my finger or stay on my hand when I am trying to get it to eat / drink water, but maybe that’s because my hand is warm. Any suggestions on how to try and get it on its own again? In the past I have had a dragonfly land on me (my big toe to be exact) and hang out, but not on any kind of regular basis.
I have had this happen to me 3 times within the last 6 or so years. The first time I was in a car on the freeway and it flew right onto my head and stayed there. It would not come off my hair. My husband finally got it off but it was dead. Another time, again we were in a car. I’m not really sure how we noticed the dragonfly but we rolled the windows up so it would not fly in. When we got out we noticed it had landed on the antenna and stayed there.. We got very close to it to take a picture and it did not move. The last time, AGAIN, we were in a car at a signal. I was in the passenger seat and the dragonfly hovered near the windshield facing directly at me and it was very obvious to both myself and husband that it was trying to find a way to get to me.
I had a dragonfly land on me this morning and began googling to find out why since it’s such a common occurrence for me. In the past they have come to me, flown near my face, landed on me, or landed near me while I am sitting outside. I positively love when this happens. Apparently this is a rare occurrence by what you have observed. To my great objections, bees and wasps are fond of me as well, bugs in general like my company, it seems, and usually the ones that are objectionable companions. I have noticed, however, that while other people are being molested by mosquitoes, I am rarely bit by them. Is it possible other people who get dragonflies don’t get mosquitoes? Could there be a connection?
My 8 yer old daughter seems to have a ‘relationship’ with dragonflies. About a month or so ago, she played with one for about 2 hours in our yard. It eventually came to my other daughter and myself. Today she has a new friend… equally happy to hop on her hand, and more than once. I also came across this blog trying to find out about this :) I have photos. Is there a way to upload?
I know this thread is old, but I found it by searching for “dragonfly friendly” because this happens to me and my kids all the time! We moved last year to a swampy area and there are tons of dragonflies around. Just the other day one landed on my 3-year-old’s hand. I wish I’d gotten a picture! And then a day or two after that one was hovering around me and I reached my hand out and it landed on my finger. I don’t know what it is, but they sure seem friendly to me!
Trina up in Newfoundland, Canada here.
I have been targeted (physically getting HIT) by dragonflies since I have been a child. I am now 33 and it has been going on ever since I can remember. They will actually change direction and come towards me and forcefully strike me. It is an apocalyptic event wherever I go. I was actually telling a friend(who did not believe me) and during our conversation one came up and struck me! It truly was out of the twilight zone. She thought it was a coincidence,I assured her it was not, ans as soon as I said it again, I was struck again so hard from behind I actually wet myself a little!
Sounds crazy, but I have come to accept that they are trying to help me.
Hi,
It’s Fall. I am sitting on a swing in my backyard and notice several dragonflies (common green darners).
As I am sitting without swinging I notice one that wished to hang around. As I watched it’s motion I noticed that it would repeatedly fly back and forth…toward me and away from me. Coming toward me it would be flying at a good speed level with my face and turn as it became close enough to be within arms reach. It did not land on me but spent over 15 minutes repeating this behavior.
Interestingly I noticd that it consistently flew east to west. However, when another dragonfly joined it their flight was decidedly from north to south and back until the dragonfly was alone again. I decided to move around the yard to see if the flight of the dragonfly changed if I was in a different position. This, in fact, was the case. I then stepped just outside of the yard on the other side of the fence. The dragonfly still flew toward me. Finally, I walked down the driveway a distance from the yard. At that point the dragonfly continued to fly back and forth over the yard west to east and back with no interest in me. This would seem to be seem to be some sort of territorial behavior. I am curious as to the consistency of flying in an east to west and back fashion. Do dragonflies sense direction such as east to west?
Mark
I work in a woodworking shop. Over the years I have rescued a few dragonflies. Growing up, it was the only insect that I wasn’t afraid of. A couple weeks ago, I rescued one and released outside. It then flew back in the shop, then landed on my shoulder, as if to thank me. I was amazed that it wanted to stay there. So I told it “you’re welcome” then released it again. Today I had one land on my arm. It allowed me to move it from finger to finger, like a tamed bird. It was reluctant to be released outside, but I was able to coax it off. I’m not sure how many time this has happened throughout the years, but it caught my attention today due to it recently happening. My best guess is that it is some type of spiritual message. Because I am a heavy smoker, it baffles me that they would chose me as a landing zone. They are beautiful creatures and I sometimes enjoy watching them hunt in mid air on my back porch. They remind me of old airplanes in pursuit of an the enemy during an extreme battle. I’m very grateful for these amazing creatures.
I was working in the backyard when I had my encounter with a dragonfly… as you say, “They’d be looking for smaller insects for lunch.” I read about half of the many posts you have received and didn’t come across the behavior I experienced. I live in florida, last year a dragonfly hovered about 10 feet over me for about an hour. The strangest thing is that when I took several steps to my right, and then again several to the left the dragonfly pivoted it’s body completely square to me. You see I have vision in just one eye therefore without depth perception I see things in monovision only sort of like a camera. The point is there is no mistake the dragonfly stayed completely square to my line of sight. Have you ever heard of behavior like that?
I too am having odd moments with dragonflies particularly w/ red ones which I have never seen until now! I’ve walked outside to swarms of them (all red), had one come in my car landing on my steering wheel, and they follow me! They seem to come out of nowhere. The land on me all the time, I’ve had up to 3 at a time land me. Over the summer I was at my sisters when 3 of them flew up again red, 1 each landing on me, my sister & my brother law! Even w/ cooler weather I looked over and one was sitting on a branch right next to my head looking at me! Today I stepped out & right away 1 flew right up to me, I don’t know why but I reached out my hand, and it actually landed in palm of my hand! Picking up my daughter on day 1st thing she asked was what was going on w/ the dragonflies this year! She says they actually chase her & they land on her all time, her friends were really excited taking pictures, amazed because they’ve never seen dragonflies do that.
Interesting! Thank you for sharing!
For many years now, I have had the pleasure of interaction with these beautiful creatures. It started roughtly 12 years ago when I noticed several hovering around me. They follow me everywhere I go. I’m not clear on their life expectancy, but I swear I had one following me for years.. yes, the same dragonfly. I’ve relocated my residence numerous times and it never fails.. I truly believe they are my totem animal. They also hover around any vehicle I drive. I’ve only ever viewed their presence as a positive. I’m happy to see that I am not the only person they share their beauty with, on almost an intimate level. Thank you for such a great read!
So glad you enjoy them! Always helpful when you have them around as much as you’ve described!
Almost everyday when i got out the house, dragonflies will appear and surround me. When I got back into house and ask my other family members to go out, none of them attract the dragonflies, when I walk out again they reappear.
I went to a snooker club house yesterday inside a mall, when I approach the table a dragonfly flying around me but not my other friend, I tried walk to other corners or sit down randomly, it followed me. What does it mean?
Like many of the others, I have always loved dragonflies, not fearing them at all. Many times they fly and stay around me, but today in a park in FL, one first sat on a bench next to me and posed so I could photograph him (her?). Then it landed on my knee and stayed a while, then on my shoe, and if I hadn’t left, might still be with me. I loved every moment of it.
I have had two experiences with dragonflies and myself lucky because I have photos of both occasions. Back in 2009 at Fenway Park, I had one land on my leg and stay for 20 minutes, I was able to pick it up and pose with it until it finally flew away. Today, in Florida I was sitting outside and a dragonfly just landed on my hand, I grabbed my phone and snapped a quick pic! It flew away but came back twice and landed on my shoulder once! I’ll send pics if I can.
Fun! If you’d like to send a photo, you can upload it to my Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/dragonflywoman! Would love to see it.
I’m really excited to have found your blog. I had three incidents in one summer a few years ago that have made me love dragonflies. The first time, I was in clearing in the woods (in northern WI) when I heard a loud buzzing and turned to see a huge swarm of dragonflies coming out of the woods in a sort of wide line. I was a little freaked out when they started flying towards me but for some reason I just stretched out my arms and stood still. The swarm came right by me and a lot of the dragonflies circled around me before disappearing into the woods on the other side. Many of them landed on me for a second before flying off.
Then, I had two separate occasions when I was sitting on a blanket in a field, reading a book and dragonflies (probably 5-6 of them) landed and sat on my head, feet, shoulders and legs and ate the pesky deer and horse flies that would come around to bug me. They stayed with me for over an hour! I wish I could call out to them whenever I’m in the woods to protect me from the biting flies!
I Googled “dragonfly on leg” and your site was one that came up. I Googled because this evening as I sat on my back deck in the Southeast USA, a dragonfly landed on my leg and sat there for an extended amount of time. I didn’t make any sudden moves because I was just enjoying the company. But as “we” sat there, a critter I’ve always called a sweat bee, landed on my leg and walked across it and then suddenly disappeared …….. right into the dragonfly’s mouth. I wondered if that was really what I saw because I didn’t know what dragonflies ate, so when I read what you wrote about their diet, I decided I did really see what I thought I saw. It was just cool. Just wanted to share. :)
Ha ha! What a marvelous experience! I would have really enjoyed that. Thanks for sharing!
These stories are really interesting. My partner and I moved into our house 8yrs ago. Every year around this time of year (June-Aug) we have dragonflies that hang around our pool. They have over the past several years started being drawn to me. Today while outside, I had 3 of them flying around and they would land on my and stay for minutes at a time. The weird thing is if they land on furniture or stones, they just land but when they land on me they raise their tail. They sit there for awhile then take off and circle around and then land again. Its been going on all afternoon.
I’ve had several experiences with dragon flies. We go to the river to tube, I use to use bug spray but have now stopped. They fly all aound me but no one else. They land on me and sit there until I swat them away.
I just went out to close my car window and i found 3 dead dragonflies on the dash all the way up against the window….i went to get the vacuum to get them because i cannot even reach that deep where they were – i opened the passanger door and there was a 4th on the passanger side of the dash…the car windows had been open about 8 hours it is about 85 degrees out but thats a little creepy – i hardly ever see dragon flies around here let alone 4 in one place
I have had dragonflies follow me around since I was 8, I never understood why ? to the point where is was normal to have them around me. My family has gotten use to the fact that when I am somewhere almost always one will surely follow. It was interesting reading this article. As I myself have always wondered that same thing……….
Thank you for sharing your experience! I still don’t know what’s going on with this, but I’m still interested in it. Your story adds a bit more information to my large collection of stories!
The last 3 weeks I have been surrounded by dragonflies. I am NOT superstitious as an engineer and scientist myself. However, I’ve had them in my apartment in Hong Kong, my condo in Baltimore, a hotel room in Shanghai, and even on a plane into Newark. The final weird straw was just now. Was getting my nails done and a dragon fly was swarming my nail technician and I. It then landed on the table between us and just stayed still. The girl and I were a bit weirded out;hence why I’m turning to google to understand this!
Wow! Sounds like you’ve had a lot of dragonfly encounters! I still have no idea why this seems to happen to some people, but if I ever find out I’ll be sure to post about it on my blog!
I am having this experience. I go outside to get water play set up for my kids and even times I’m just standing out there. And this large dragonfly stalks me. It literally flies right at me as if I’m a threat. I swing something at it to shoo it away and it just keeps coming back. Circling me. Flies to the back of my yard them straight at me again. Over and over and over. Do I need to worry about these harming my kids? It is extremely persistent to the point I feel it’s attacking. It’s never landed on me though I’ve never given it the chance. I just want to lay out and get some sun and play with my kids. Today is the first time I’ve seen more than one. They’ve chased each other. I thought maybe it wanted the pool but it never goes near it. (Just a small plastic pool for kids). But it seems aggressive towards me. I’ve never seen this before. And didn’t have this issue last summer. I’m just starting to get really annoyed with it. I can’t even relax for a second. It’s like as soon as I go outdoors it’s there circling me, flying straight at me. I haven’t seen if it would do the same to my kids or if it’s just me it seems to not like or whatever. Is there something I can do to rid them from my yard? It’s pretty large. Large wings that seem to have wide stripes. And I think I see dark colors like black and/or blue with white. It never lands on anything it’s in constant flight. It’s driving me crazy. At this point I swing my bug zapper paddle at it. I normally don’t care to rid bugs. Especially ones that I thought were just peaceful bugs. But this is ridiculous. I can never go in back yard anymore without being “stalked”. It’s happened twice. Yesterday and the day before nothing and then today it’s like it’s out with a vengeance. What can I do??
I would be very surprised if your dragonflies actually came into contact with you! They’re likely taking advantage of any little insects you’re stirring up as you move around your yard – or mosquitoes! – and are probably doing you a service rather than acting aggressively toward you, in spite of appearances. There’s always a possibility of one landing on you if you sit still long enough, but it would be HIGHLY unlikely for it to do anything more than simply sit on you. I wouldn’t worry about the dragonflies in your yard at all! They’re not going to do anything bad to you.
Also. It seems to just disappear once I’m not outside too. I’m watching out my window and it’s no where to be seen. I go out and it’s like grrrrr :) :-/
My daughter was 3 yrs old when it started. Her father and I were walking hand in hand with her in the middle. It started with about 10 or so dragonflies that swarmed around then landed on her. They were just sitting on her. We were watching in amazment. Then more came. Lots more. Like way more than 50 of them. They all flying around her and landing on her. They would even take a bit of her hair in their legs and hover above her holding on to her hair. We still were right beside her, watching. We didn’t know what to do. They weren’t hurting her. She wasn’t afraid. In fact she was just smiling and holding out her hands palms up and some of them landed in her palms and on her arms. This went on for a little more than a half hour. Then they slowly just started flying away. But since then she finds herself with dragonflies that just fly up to her and land on her or in her hand. She is now 11 yrs old. It still continues. She calls them her friends.
Wow! So cool! What an amazing thing for her to experience. Very glad to hear that she wasn’t scared of the dragonflies at all. That’s awesome.
Thanks so much for sharing!
Since I was a child I would ‘talk” to animals and they always acted like they understood me. Sometimes they even replied, (but don’t tell anyone-Shhhhh…) My mother has the gift too.
I love humming birds. One day I was standing at my patio door admiring a humming bird who was drinking nectar from a flower. I said, “Look at that cutie! Nothing else in the world can hover like that!” A dragon fly flew up to the window and said, “I can hover too, but nobody thinks I’m cute!” I gasped, almost spilled my coffee, and looked at my husband. He said, “DONT! Don’t tell me nothing that you just heard that bug say!”
What a marvelous story! I’m so glad you shared it with me.
These are great stories. I found you while doing an internet search for aggressive dragonfly behaviors. I live in the suburbs of fort Worth and work in a rural town about 50 miles south. I’ve never seen this kind of behavior until this year. I can be standing outside and one or more dragonflies seem to be making a beeline for my forehead from the adjoining yard, broad daylight, and never slow down. I duck and they go right on through the space where my head was as though they’d never noticed it! Or they’ll hover directly in front of my face and just peer at me. Tonight, though, a large dragonfly went berzerko, apparently protecting a smaller one perched on a wire about 8 feet off the ground. We were changing a bulb in my car’s brake light. He or she flew wildly and erratically around us from one end of the yard to the other vey fast, swooping closer to me with each circle back. It was strange and unsettling. I didn’t think he could hurt me and was probably afraid of us, but what a courageous, feisty little guy or gal! Glad to know that it might have been the car he reacted to and not me but it sure seemed personal at the time!
Dragonflywoman:
I just found this site and am very intrigued. I live in Anchorage Alaska and have had numerous encounters with the wonderful creatures. My wife teases me that dragonflies are attracted to me. We fish frequently in the summer and I have had them land on my shirt numerous times. One stayed on my shirt for a full 5 minutes and let me have it walk/transfer onto my finger to move it to a seat on a raft. It is funny to consider a scent attracting them as I use mosquito repellant frequently to avoid swarms of both mosquitoes and black flies. I try to coax the dragons to land on my finger but have yet to have them do so. I was just out cutting the grass and had one hover close to me for most of the time I was out there (as one or more usually do when cutting the yard)- I figured that they may be attracted to insects moving about with the lawn being clipped. I have had them come within a foot of my male Tosa Inu (Japanese Mastiff) when he is with me in the yard, but never close to his sister. I have had many close encounters with moose and bears and I truly think that animals as well as dragonflies can sense if they are in danger or feared- and act accordingly. For whatever the reason, I love having the dragons visit me and it makes me smile to think that I have been chosen to be involved with them. They are wonderous and in Alaska (with horrible mosquitoes)- we adore them! I look forward to reading from the blog and hearing of others encounters.
Thank you,
Brian
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I had the most bizarre encounter with a dragonfly today – I was walking back to my car with a friend. I stopped about 2/3rds across a bridge to rest, and look out at the Fox river, in Aurora Illinois. Within a few seconds I saw a huge green bug land just below the ledge and I asked my friend, “Did you see that? What was it?” He tells me it was a dragonfly…. really? I asked, and then it flew up and landed on the top ledge of the bridge about 4 inches away from my hand. Fascinated, I watched it for atleast 5 min before I slowly moved my index finger towards it. It let me move my finger to where I was literally touching its front “hand”, it then for a min or two moved that “hand” up and down my finger like it was petting my finger. Then it walked up on my finger. People were passing, cars driving by…. it was very noisy and yet it remained on my finger. I was able to move my hand close to my face to get a close up look at the dragonfly from all angles. This went on for over 30 minutes. It was so comfortable with me, I literally brought it to my face, and it again moved one of its front “hands” (apologies for not knowing the scientific term) on my lip.
This was not the day to have left our phones/cameras in the car!
This whole encounter lasted a good 45mins – people crossing the bridge were actually stopping to look. – It finally flew off my finger when I had my hand turned and was looking at it from behind.
Animals are usually very comfortable around me, but I have never had anything like this happen.
On a side note – I have one tattoo – a dragonfly on my foot, which I got about 2 years ago.
I found your blog because I’ve noticed dragonflies seem to be attracted to me and Googled “dragonflies are attracted to me.” My kids and boyfriend call me the dragonfly lady because they are constantly flying around me and try to land on me or on my things. It started last summer. At least that’s when I noticed they were actually attracted to me and not just flying around. It was July 18. I know because that’s the day I took the picture of it. I was sitting in my backyard enjoying the sun when out of nowhere a red dragonfly started flying around me and landed on my leg. I am very scared of any and all bugs! Especially large flying bugs. I was extra worried about this one because it was small and bright red. I had never seen a red dragonfly around here. Just the large blue ones. Thinking it may sting me, I jumped from my chair to run away and it flew and landed on the chair I was sitting on. I ran to get my camera to prove to people I indeed saw a red dragonfly! Then on July 28 I was sitting outside on my deck enjoying the patio water mister and a very very large blue dragonfly showed up and flew all around me, playing in the sprinkler! It would hover in front of me and stare at me. I was kind of freaked out because I was not going to let it land on me!!! It went on for a good 20 minutes. Long enough that I was able to record it on my phone! Then I went inside to get a glass of water and didn’t shut my screen door. As I was coming back outside the dragonfly flew straight into my house! I panicked because of its size, speed and being stuck in my house, but it just flew around once then right back out the patio door. Fast forward a year later, almost to the day. July 14 I was laying on the beach with my friend with my eyes closed. When I rolled over to get a drink from my water bottle sitting on the mouthpiece of my water bottle was a very large blue dragonfly! It was right next to my head where I was lying!!! It sat there for about 5 minutes. Long enough to study it right up close and once again capture it with my cell phone. Then today as I was leaving my sons Dr appt, two mating dragonflies were flying around me and almost flew right into me as I was getting in the car. My son says mom look they totally just landed on your car. Snapped a pic but wasn’t fast enough. Just about everywhere I go I see dragonflies around. Not every encounter is as dramatic as my experiences I just wrote about. Now I know I am not alone.
Twice now while working in my garden a dragon fly has landed on a plant support at my eye level and stayed there most of the day so I could take pictures. The first one hunted around and came back with a bug in his mouth and chomped it while I continued to take pictures. The one who visited today tilted his had back and forth as I talked to him. Love these little guys.
My son got a new (20 year old Camaro that’s new to us…) car recently, and we live near woods. At first, there was one dragonfly that would come to the car every time we parked it in the driveway, and land directly on the top of the antenna. Now, a couple of weeks later, there are half a dozen dragonflies that swarm around the area, and whenever the car is parked, they land on it and just sit there. Honestly I’ve never noticed any dragonflies anywhere near our home before this new car arrived. We bought it out of state, brought it home, worked on it, and washed and waxed it. I suppose there could be residual scent in or on it. But it’s odd that they hover around his car and none of our others. We have 3 that sit in the same driveway regularly.
Some car clear coats give off a polarized light pattern that’s very similar to that given off by bodies of water. It’s not unusual for dragonflies to be attracted to cars! My guess would be they’re mistaking the car for a pond and doing their normal thing – setting up territories on perches (the antenna in this case) and attempting to lay eggs. You might want to give it a good rinse now and again after you see dragonflies sitting on the car. If they’re laying eggs, it’s possible they may damage the finish just a little if they’re allowed to sit a long time.
Most people who have super attractive cars that I’ve spoken with find that they get the dragonflies for a few weeks each year and then they move on. It’s getting toward the end of the season, so they probably won’t be hanging out around your car much longer.
I have always had dragonflies around me, but more often since I am older. I have a photo of a dragon fly that out of possibly 300 people at the lake, it kept landing on me, over and over. I have a photo of that day, the day my house caught on fire. I truly believe it is my dad telling me something. I have had at 11 pm even more recently banging on my kitchen window in front of where I was sitting. (I have 5 windows in my kitchen and the light over the back door..Only 1/2 window size away from the 5 windows.) I also have pictures of him. He was huge. Just this last Saturday in the middle of the lake I stopped my jet ski for just a moment and one landed right in the middle of the handle bars facing me. Of course no photo of this. I have often been able to have a special bound with animals. They are always attracted to me…guess these insects are no different. I have had birds eat out of my hands when I was in highschool, this was a daily thing almost. I love all creatures and they seem to love me as well.
I love dragonflies and have a couple dragonfly tattoos. I’ve also had dragonflies land on me as well. Usually when I was in or near water. I did have one unusual experience though. When I first moved here to Maryland in my moms house I was in the kitchen and a large dragonfly landed on my shoulder. I didn’t see it at first and my mom told me it was a dragonfly. When it flew away (it’s a log house with very low ceilings) it went toward one of the logs in the ceiling we couldn’t find it and never saw it in the house again.
I like that they come to me and they are beautiful.
I enjoys reading this, thank you!
These responses are all so fascinating. I didn’t read them all, but I was wondering if the people who have held the dragonfly were able to pet its wings. A week or two ago, a dragonfly landed on the back of my chair outside as I was getting ready to sit. It didn’t move, so I went to touch it, thinking it would fly away. It didn’t fly away but let me pet its wings several times. Then I sat down, and it flew away.
But when I google petting a dragonfly, it seems quite a few people have been able to do this. :-) The wonders of nature!
Hi,
I came across your article while I was searching for an explanation for this behavior! No matter where I go, I always seem to attract a “buddy” as I call them. I love dragonflies so it doesn’t bother me that they follow me and like to land on me. In fact I take a lot of pictures of my buddies because they will let me get so close to them with my camera. I just thought it was something that they did but I’ve since learned it doesn’t happen to everyone.
The guy who’s lost a son, I lost one too and then while laying around the pool where my son used to sun bathe, I had dragonflies coming at me. I though they were to attack me, so I looked on the Internet. Also, right after he committed suicide , an owl stayed on a tree branch for several days. I never had that experience, before, or since.
You know, I had that experience too, after my father died. Interesting that so many people have had this sort of experience.
I’ve been “friendly” with dragonflies since I noticed them hovering near me. I try to entice them to land on me, or near me; making slow movements. It’s such a thrill when they land on me, or when I move my hand close to them and they climb aboard. I swear I’ve done this with the same dragonfly days in a row. I live in Florida, and they’re quite prolific here. I always thought it was such a cool experience….that’s why I googled “friendly dragonflies”, and was directed here! Thanks, Madame Dragonfly! ;)
For the past two months, I have had various dragonfly encounters. I have noticed that when I am sad or concerned about something they always show up right away and make me feel peaceful or I get in a happy mood. They tend to hover in front of my face or glide next to me. Just the other day I was feeling stressed out and four dragonflies showed up in my back yard and would circle very high in the sky, one would circle around me. The one dragonfly that circled around me would hover above the ground for some reason. Do you know why they hover about the ground and also make a clicking noise? He would fly and regularly make a clicking sound. Even today a dragonfly flew by me and made the same clicking noise.
I work in Nova Scotia and over the summer we’ve had what seems to be hundreds of Dragonflies buzzing around out back. During breaks everyone goes to eat at the picnic table out back and the dragonflies would land on me, they’d sit there for a few minutes or so before flying away. The odd thing is that they will only land on me and will leave everyone else alone.
I have been getting visits from Dragonflies for the past couple of years. I sense their curious and not fearful of certain people. For me, it usually happens in my garden. I sense, they sense a connection with man and nature and it might have something to do with a persons, vibes, scent, color, energy etc.
I’ve had this too, with butterflies, in the past…the SD Zoo folks told me sometimes if you connect/touch the insect in its early/growth stage , “transference” occurs…and they connect with you…”simple as that!” (It’s Love:)
And that’s pretty Kool !!!
ram8
My connection with dragonflies started about nine years ago when I was living in Sebastian Florida. I was sitting in my backyard when a dragonflies circled me so I I stuck my finger out and much to my surprise it landed on my finger. I thought wow that was cool so I left my finger up hoping it would happen again, sure enough here it comes only this time it caught a bug and sat there on my finger and ate it. Over the years I’ve had them land on my finger here and there but just the past week every day they come visit me and I just stick my finger up and they hang out. This got me thinking what the heck is going on so I did a little research on animal spirits and pretty much everything I stand for is a direct hit on the dragonfly. Not sure if I really believe in all that stuff but thought that was very interesting and wanted to share.
Same thing happened to me. On a trip to see our cousin’s 12 acres in a forest and getting ready to build on a dragonfly was there ..I did think much of it until it kept on following me. My husband and the cousin and his wife were there. The dragonfly only flew around me..when we went to go we got into our car and it followed by the window and then like it went crazy and fluttered right in front of the window like as if to say please do not go..my husband could not believe it..so I rolled down the window and said Im sorry I have to go…it was so comforting. it was a peaceful moment in my life. Just thought it was strange.
I have always been fascinated by dragonflies. They are my favorite insect. Recently I have noticed when I am outside there are tons flying around in ours and our neighbors yards. This morning I was on my back porch and one flew up to me and stared right in my face. (Kind of like a carpenter bee does) then flew off. A few minutes later I was washing my daughter’s sippy cup and happen to look out the window by the sink and there were 2 dragonflies attached to one another sunbathing on my window screen. I can only assume it has been due to hlthe weather. (70 during day and 30’s at night) But I have always been one to have them hover around me. I’m not one to get mosquito bites, and if so very rarely, so maybe there is a “scent” they are attracted to. They tend to not hover near me when my husband is around also. I wish I was able somehow to share the photo of them sunbathing ob my screen.
You can share it on my Facebook page! Just search for The Dragonfly Woman and you should find a page with my little black and white logo.
Hi Dragonfly Woman,
I have a story to share about a one time experience with a dragonfly. I was in Yucatan Mexico, visiting the sacred Samula Cenote near the Mayan Chichen Itza. It’s open to the public for swimming, so my family and I went down into the waters. There was a good amount of people swimming but it was not packed at all. I was swimming for a bit, and (please look up photo of this cenote to understand the visual) decided I wanted to get close to the hanging tree roots. They were quite long at this point, thick and touching the water. There was rope so I couldn’t touch it. The water was up to my knees, and I was standing in direct sunlight coming from the hole above. All of a sudden, a dragonfly zooms into my face, and just stays there then starts circling me. I stay still, and it lays on my right arm. It stays there for a little bit, then it’s tail unfurls and it stung me (I thought it stung me at the time I didn’t know anything about dragonflies). The sting hurt a lot. It even stayed there for a bit, then flew away but it stayed near me, and didn’t bother anyone else. It left when I started to swim back to the rocks. I was researching about it after, and I found out they don’t sting, and that it probably laid eggs in me because there was quite a bump in my skin that was a little strange. I couldn’t tell if it was a reaction or if it was eggs…..I tried to see if this has happened to anyone else and couldn’t find anything.
Hi Dragonfly Woman,
I have a story to share about a one time experience with a dragonfly. I was in Yucatan Mexico, visiting the sacred Samula Cenote near the Mayan Chichen Itza. It’s open to the public for swimming, so my family and I went down into the waters. There was a good amount of people swimming but it was not packed at all. I was swimming for a bit… (please look up photo of this cenote to understand the visual) …and decided I wanted to get close to the hanging tree roots. They were quite long at this point, thick and touching the water. There was rope around the base so I couldn’t touch it. The water was up to my knees, and I was standing in direct sunlight coming from the hole above. All of a sudden, a dragonfly zooms into my face, and just stays there then starts circling me. I stay still, and it lays on my right arm. It stays there for a little bit, then it’s tail unfurls and it stung me (I thought it stung me at the time I didn’t know anything about dragonflies). It hurt a lot. It even stayed there for a bit, then flew around me and stayed near me, and didn’t bother anyone else. It left when I started to swim back to the rocks. I was researching about it after, and I found out they don’t sting, and that it probably laid eggs in me because there was quite a bump in my skin that was a little strange. The way its tail looks on google images when laying eggs is exactly what I saw it do on my arm.. I couldn’t tell if it was a skin reaction or if it was eggs…..I tried to see if this has happened to anyone else and couldn’t find anything.
A dragonfly flew into our house tonight and came and sat on my shirt. I walked outside and gently “swiped” it off. As I turned around it flew back to me and sat on my shorts. My wife took photos while it sat on my shorts. When I looked down it was it was looking me straight in my eyes. After a while my daughter said she wanted to see if it would come to her. She just started reaching and it flew away. What is strange is that I’ve never seen a dragonfly at night, too. Weird experience. But a nice one.
Interesting! Glad you enjoyed the experience. I know I would!
I have this happen to me every time I step outside in the summer. Every time. Even if there is no water anywhere near me. And it’s happened since I was little. They tend land on me and stay awhile until I move quickly and then they fly away. but they hover nearby. I’ve had them hitch rides on me when I’m tubing down the river. My house was in the middle of a city and they would be in my backyard every day. waiting for me it seemed. As soon as I’d go outside they’d zoom up to me and land either on me or near me. If my boyfriend was outside, he wouldn’t see any. I’d go outside and they’d start flying around and he’d always say “where did all these dragon fly’s come from, we don’t even live near any water!” When I go trout fishing, I’m surrounded by them. My boyfriend will be upstream and he’ll never see them. As soon as I go up by him to fish, we’re both surrounded. It’s actually pretty awesome! I’ve seen so many different colors and sizes.
I’ve had dragonflies come around me as long as I can remember..sometimes ten to twenty..while I was playing as a child..either swimming in the river or just at the park .recently I’ve had a dragonfly come into my livingroom and land on my tv stand …it stayed there just hanging out with kids..dogs.and adults all coming and going…I’ve left from work and drive some twenty miles or so only to see the same collored dragonflies when I arrived…I don’t understand it..also I can walk the Yellowstone river all day and half the night all season’s and never get bit by a mosquito..don’t know what it all means.mabey I’m not supposed to. I do know that whenever I am swarmed by dragonflies I’m also around women..or involved with a woman.whether as my sister’s and cousin’s as a child or friend and or lover as an adult..it’s something that seems to fascinate the women around me …im just so used to then that if not pointed out directly I normally pay them no mind after I acknowledge them verbally with a hello how was your winter or something to that sort as if they are just people I see every spring and summer and fall. I’d had women be more intrigued in me by this and some almost scared to even speak to me or be around me because of it. I don’t know but it’s nice to know in not the only one…up till now I thought I was..sorry about my spelling and punctuation it’s hard to be correct wen keeping up with this brain.!!
Dragonflies have always surrounded me since I was a little girl. It started when I would go fishing and one would always land on the end of my cane pole, until I caught something. They’ve always been around me. Sometimes just one but in other occasions, a swarm. My family has joked about it because we will be somewhere and as soon as I walk outside one or more will appear. I’ve even been standing in my backyard and all of a sudden there will be 20+ flying all around and hovering near me. I’ve not had the experience of them landing on me and dying, except once- apparently it was the end of the life cycle for that one and it seemed to find peace in landing on my finger. It is a truly bizarre occurrence to me sometimes. I am not being over dramatic when I say they literally are always around me. They will even dive bombed me and fly right past my head when I’m bot paying attention. Once my family was standing in a field and as soon as I approached they came from every direction, at least 50 of them. My daughter was totally laughing because they had been out there for an hour and hadn’t seen one and as soon as I approached we were surrounded. Sometimes even sitting at a stop light, one will stop and hover at my windshield, looking right at me and then fly off. I’ve just taken them as a sign from God, a reminder that life is short but there is peace in the thought of a brief life here on earth.
I came across this while searching for dragonfly behavior as I have a common male darner that’s been clung to my front door for the past day. He hasn’t moved or anything and was curious about his behavior. He’s fairly large so I thought he might be near the end of his life cycle? Any idea why such an active dragonfly would just sit in one place for hours on end?
If it’s sitting still like that for that long, I would bet it’s near the end of its life. However, it’s also quite early in the season, so that’s total speculation!
I was looking for why dragonflies land on people and found your site. Since I was a child butterflies have landed on me but it has only been in the last several years that dragonflies have done this. Today I was mowing the yard and there were at least 10 on the tractor and three or four on me. When I take them off they hover and get back on me. I am not afraid of bugs just would like to know what causes this. Also just walking outside they come up to me and land on my head or chest. My kids think it is funny. When we take a family picture in the yard everyone waits for Mom–me to get the butterflies off her head. My Mother in law used to say they like rotten meat—she was joking, I hope.
I was wondering if the people who experience this are also people who can not wear watches. That is my other odd thing. If I put a watch on it stops completely within a day or two. Maybe it is a magnetic thing with the butterflies and dragon flies?
One comment mentioned the relationship of not being able to wear watches. I can’t wear metal watches either (only plastic if I were so inclined). Didn’t know anyone else with that issue. I also have a problem with computers and smart phone.
I have that problem too! Have to use an iPhone because I kill Androids as soon as I touch them and can only wear plastic watches. I used to kill the clock in our living room as a kid if I touched the metal hands to adjust the time. However, I do not get dragonflies flocking to me either… Wish I had that problem, but alas I do not!
Glad to know there are other people who knock out electronics with a touch though. :)
Dragonflies have a unique and beautiful connection to the afterlife. My father passed away a few years ago right after he passed dragonflies would swarm all around me I thought it odd and didn’t understand it at first. I feel it’s a connection to my dad and he is letting me know that he is happy where he is and is watching over me. My first Christmas without him as I came down the stairwell there was a huge beautiful blue dragonfly on the wall in my house …totally off season,it landed on me and stayed most of the day every time I tried to put it outside it didn’t want to leave. This happens to me quite often I’ve come to look forward to these visits, they always put a smile on my face!!! I’m curious if other people think about it could it possibly have happened to them after the loved one has passed ???
4th of July weekend I went camping with a male friend of mine that I had recently been introduced to a couple of months prior. We were sitting outside by the tent in our primitive camping area (riverfront) and of course dragon flys, blue and green, were hanging around.
I’m fairly used to animal totems coming in all forms so I’ve began to be present in the moment and kind of interact with whichever totem I’m experiencing . But this one was different. The green dragonfly came to visit me every morning and hung out until the sun set. On the second day, he flew and hovered around me at eye level while I was sitting on the ground. I look over at the cute little guy and start talking to him bc it was clearly the same one from the day earlier.
As I start talking to him, he makes eye contact with me. So I go along with it and tell my guy friend to say hello to our little animal totem friend. In that very moment, this dragonfly synchronostically copied my mannerisms while talking to my friend. If I looked, he looked. If I turned a way, he followed but never left my right side at eye level. He never invaded my space but he was so in tune with me and my actions.
The blue dragon fly that accompanied the green one hung out in our tent at the top by the net that looks out to the sky. He was interesting as well because he stayed in the tent with me, even while sleeping and just observed.
Coolest experience ever. Any insight or further information to these behaviors?
Two days after the camping trip, I had a bumble bee play and tease me jokingly two days straight. Would fly up front behind the seat and poke at my back or should to get my attention. He also guided or led me out of the car so he could fly in to the back window. I tried to let him be but if i took my attention off of him for more than a minute, he would come nudge my shoulder or buzz around to make me look for his presence. I never swatted or got anxious from their behaviors but it was quite mystical and enchantingly pleasant to be playing with them. The bee and dragonflys came to me of course and seemed to be the only ones in that vicinity in the time of the occurrence.
Let me know what you think!!
I may have posted my first comment on the wrong field so I’ll try again. For a while, birds have been swooping down both in and out of my car at me. Lately I have noticed dragon flys acting in a similar manner. Both on foot and in my car they fly past me and scan me from head to toe then hover for a moment if not slamming into me then fly away. As I type this a dragon fly is resting on my railing of my porch inches from my head. It landed beside me keeps flicking it’s head at me. I went inside for about 2 hours. I Came back outside and it flew right at me then returned to where it was resting. Strangest incident involving this phenomenon I have been experiencing.
Dragonflies are ALWAYS around me!! When I tell people about this they think im crazy…until they spend time with me and see for themselves. They are everywhere i go…in parking lots, at restaurants, in the mountains, on the freeway, at the pool, i recently went on a 4 hour river rafting trip and a dragonfly rode all the way down the river on my leg, my friends couldn’t believe it. I even got up one morning and found 2 of them in my kitchen, one on my pantry door and one on the floor. I was able to pick them up and put them outside….but not before I took a picture (which is now my screensaver on my phone.). I love seeing them…I view them as Gods reminder that he’s with me and im loved!!
This really freaked me out… On a Sunny afternoon, I was about to go on my laptop when I noticed there were loads of horse flies on the windows. I had recently been bitten by a horse fly and trust me it REALLY hurts, so I tried to shoo them out of the window without getting bitten. While I was doing that I noticed a pretty, blue dragonfly on the window. I love them and rarely see them so I scooped it up and it didn’t fly away, so I shouted MUM MUM! I’VE GOT A DRAGON FLY WANNA SEE?? She said ok so I started to walk into the kitchen where my mum was. I was in a really tight corridor leading to the kitchen when the dragonfly started to move around. I opened my hands and.. IT HAD GONE!!! I checked everywhere for it and got mum to help to. It wasn’t on me anywhere and the corridor has no windows and the doors were shut. It was nowhere to be seen! Was this just me or does anyone else find this kinda creepy…
Hello,
I too have experienced the odd behavior of the dragonfly. Dragonflies have landed on me before staying only a second or 2 but today, while sitting outside with my mother, I had one land on my foot. He just stayed there. I uncrossed my legs and switched positions, he flew off but came right back. He continued to do this. After an hr. I got up, he flew off my foot as I stood then landed on my arm. I finally had to go inside at which time he flew away. Personally I think they are attracted to the type of energy certain people give off. I am an animal lover and wont even kill the tiniest of insects. I am also very laid back person and very happy go lucky. I would be interested to know if the other people here, share some of the same traits. Thanks for allowing me to share my story.
My interaction with dragonflies just started on Saturday 8/20/16 I was talking to someone and getting ready to get into my car when a dragonfly started hovering around me and my car. It stayed there for a while. The next time it happened was on Monday 8/22/16. I was at the cemetery visiting my husbands grave…the headstone had just been installed that day. I was sitting in my car looking for tissues when a dragonfly started hovering in front of my windshield. I got out of my car and there were 2 dragonflies that sort of danced around me for about 10 or 15 minutes. It was kind of magical and made me very happy and light. The next sighting was Tuesday, 8/23/16. I was stopped at a traffic light, and once again, a dragonfly was hovering in front of my windshield in front of my face. Today, I had 2 more incidents. I came out of a restaurant from having lunch, and again a dragonfly was hovering over my car, and then when I came out, it was hovering around me. After lunch, my son followed me to the cemetery to see the headstone, and wouldn’t you know it…a dragonfly started hovering around me again. I am not sure what is happening with the dragonflies all of the sudden, but they seem to be very attracted to me since Saturday. Something strange is going on because this has never happened to me before. I am not afraid of them….if anything its just the opposite. I am kind of in awe of them. I hope that they continue to find me because they make me happy!
Yup. Every time I go swimming I hang out with my blue dragon fly buddy. My husband started calling me “Khaleesi” today bc we were both out there but the dragonfly only came to me. Landed on my toe, my finger and hung out on my shoulder looking into my eyes for a while. Good thing my hub isn’t the jeolous kind!lol Not sure why but I do have some health stuff going on so wondered if that was it. So happy to find this and know I’m not alone. Definitely interested in the why if you ever come up with it!
Hi! Just found this post while searching for information about dragonflies, as they have always fascinated me ever since I was a kid. Never actually thought about this whole landing on people or hovering around them etc stuff, except now after reading your post about.
This sort of behavior is actually really common to me. Don’t know anyone else who has had this happen, but has happened to me when I was a kid and now more recently when I started wildlife photography hobby when I turned 30 this May.
I remember when I was a kid, it was basically any type of dragonflies (Coenagrionidae), damselflies , skimmer dragonflies (Libellulidae), hawkers, or darners in North America (Aeshnidae) etc, every type that I remember seeing one time or another.
Lately though, due to the location where I live, it’s mostly been damselflies in the early summer and now skimmer dragonflies, more specifically darters (meadowhawks in NA) at late summer, as they are everywhere.
I have even photographed a Common Darter (Sympetrum striolatum) juvenile on my hand, while I was actually photographing other insects. It landed there and didn’t leave anywhere. Even after I took few photos of it, couple really close to it, as my macro lens is not that great, it still stayed on my hand when I continued to photograph couple butterflies.
And I have had several other Sympetrums flying around me, juveniles and adults, many times when I’ve went to photograph whatever I can find. Some even landed on my back or on my head and few were catching some small insects (possibly mosquitoes) that were flying next to me or had already landed on me.
Just couple weeks ago I had a Vagrant Darter adult on my arm while I was at work (I work outside) and it also stayed there for almost an hour, while I was working.. Every now and then it would fly off for a short moment (at least couple times noticed that it would try to catching something in the air) and then land back on my arm. Not my sleeve though, just bare skin on my arm with this one.
Doesn’t work with every single dragonfly that I meet, but often enough for me to start thinking that it was normal for me to get that close to them or them landing on me. Until I read your post about them.
Just thought I’d share this because of that :)
Hilo my name is Rina Chantael,
Ever since I was a little girl dragonfly’s have seemed to follow me around and I’d never really thought to much of it until today, this morrow when I awoke there was a damselfly sitting on the dashboard of our truck I told my significant other that dragonfly’s seemed to follow me where ever I go. He is a truck driver you see but we are from florida , now normally it only happens at my house or at the river, but today we are in Texas. So I started researching this behavior and aswell symbolic reasons. It is said when dragonfly’s seem to inter your life it is a form or sign of change in ones life or mental/emotional maturity, I understand this might not help anyone’s research, but it is an interesting tid bit. Could A dragonfly like dogs (as an example) see people for who they are on the inside and want to be around that person???
Yes, any time i sit outside i have dragonflies land on my leg, and sometimes on my clothes. I even had two that were mating land near me within inches of my feet and just sit there.
I think it’s my totem spirit animal.
I have experienced this quite frequently, everytime I go hiking actually. I like to hike near water and everytime I stop to rest, I find myself swarmed by damselflies. I’ve even had them land on me for minutes at a time, allowing me to obtain some really fantastic photos and videos. It struck me as odd. Especially since I dont hike alone. They seem to become more brace with time. Where as they would just hover around me and occasionally flutter on my arm, or shoulder, or leg, to an all out test stop. It’s entertaining and curious at best. This last time though, I even managed to attract a butterfly that seemingly strutted around me.
This has always happened to my oldest daughter (7 yo). I have a couple pics of dragonflies landing on her and hanging out for awhile
BINGO! ADD US TO THE LIST
of people who attract dragonflies!
They follow my car, then when I get out, they follow me. I usually see I’m surrounded by three in a triangulated manor. But they’re not aggressive or bothersome.
As an epidemiology researcher I would LOVE to compile all your histories to find out what commonalities we share. Several years ago I found a lady bug swarm inside a window. When I saw they died, decided to collect them to place in garden soil as their bodies add nutrients as they decompose. I forgot to do this and found the bottle and opened it and smelled a flowery odor. When I sniffed it closer, a mass of peppery slightly burning scent entered my nostrils. I always wonder about this when dragonflies swarm around me.
This happens to me all of the time. They are constantly following me, hovering near me and landing on me. They have ever since I was little. I was leaving for work one morning a few years ago and one landed on my face! I’m not afraid of them. I actually love them and have a dragonfly tattoo. 😁
I believe these people have found their “Spirit Animal or Spirit Insect” if you will. A whole world out there within in this. Enjoy researching.
Recently my 3-year-old and I were in a near fatal car accident. Out of the victims, he sustained the least amount of injuries, walking away with something akin to whiplash. I however, was not so lucky, and now require in-home help to come in and help me care for him while I mend. This car accident happened about 3 weeks ago.
My 3-year-old son is on the autism spectrum, but even for that, this seemed odd, and I found this blog searching for the meaning.
The caregivers that come in to help with my son have noted this to me. He loves to be outdoors. And we live in a rural area within Vermont, so dragonflies and bugs are part of the norm. But there seems to be one dragonfly, maybe the same one? Maybe not? Whenever they take him outside to play, this dragonfly follows him around, always staying within arms reach of him. And he’s 3, so arms reach is barely any distance at all.
Not only that, they have noted that he seems to have bonded with this dragonfly. Encouraging it to follow him as he ventures around the property. And it does, it follows him wherever he goes for the duration of him being outside.
To make matters stranger, when my son is indoors he usually plays in these 2 back bedrooms that have large windows. Whichever room he is in, that dragonfly hovers outside of the windows while he plays. And you can hear him holding a one-sided conversation with this dragonfly from the bedroom.
Before our car accident we have never experienced anything like this with him. It’s only started since the accident.
So sorry to hear about your accident! Hope that you are able to recover. Thank you for sharing this though! It’s absolutely fascinating. Wonder what might be going on there…
Hi, we bought a house last summer in sw Florida, out in the sticks near the everglades. We have a deck, my husband and were sitting out and a lot of dragonflies kept coming. Because I’m very familiar with the eastern culture and the meaning of dragonflies i wanted to find out if they would come to me, and they sure did. I tremendously enjoyed the interaction, but when I went back to the part of the lanai that’s screened in, they kept on flying into the screen, I went back out to calm them down, and only went back in after they chose to leave. I was diagnosed last year with CVID. I can’t wait to see if they’re coming back to me after I have been on infusions for the last five month. I found the contact with these beautiful animals very comforting.