The insects formed a dense cloud that buzzed across the beach, weaving between umbrellas and chairs, and moving around faces and legs of the visitors.
A video footage was posted by WCVP-TV-Boston on X that attracted varied reactions from the users of the social media platform.
“Would you stay or go? Dragonflies swarmed a busy Rhode Island beach on Saturday — you can hear children screaming as they flew past,” the post accompanying the video read.
“I would stay. I would take the fly swatter away from the girl. I would explain that they don’t have stingers and aren’t poisonous or dangerous to humans. A dragon fly will bite in self defense if they feel threatened but their bites aren’t powerful and will barely break the skin,” a user responded.
“Kids need to toughen up. Kids today would never have made it as kids in the 70’s. Dragonflies? Stop it,” said another.
According to WBUR, dragonfly swarms often form either during the summer breeding season or in response to weather disturbances or human activities that stir up the smaller insects they prey on.