Do dragonflies bite/sting?

[Pam Gibbs]

We have always had a few small ones around the yard but I just saw one at
the new pond that was as big as my hand and was hovering in front of me,
looking me over like hummingbirds do, but way more intimidating than
hummingbirds. So do dragonflies have any method of injuring people?

[San Diego Joe]

"Pam Gibbs" wrote:

> We have always had a few small ones around the yard but I just saw one at
> the new pond that was as big as my hand and was hovering in front of me,
> looking me over like hummingbirds do, but way more intimidating than
> hummingbirds. So do dragonflies have any method of injuring people?

Nope. We have them all over and at worst, they will startle you by flying
near. The damsel flies even land on you if you sit still enough.


San Diego Joe
4,000 - 5,000 Gallons.
Goldfish, a RES named Colombo and an Oscar.



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[Lostin1999]

"Pam Gibbs" > wrote in message
...
> We have always had a few small ones around the yard but I just saw one at
> the new pond that was as big as my hand and was hovering in front of me,
> looking me over like hummingbirds do, but way more intimidating than
> hummingbirds. So do dragonflies have any method of injuring people?
>
they CAN bite (I caught one as a child and to get free it bit me (and drew
blood)), but as a general rule they don't swarm or attack people..

looking back I deserved the bite I got!!!

HTH

Mark

[Charles]

On Tue, 13 Jul 2004 11:55:58 -0500, "Pam Gibbs"
> wrote:

>We have always had a few small ones around the yard but I just saw one at
>the new pond that was as big as my hand and was hovering in front of me,
>looking me over like hummingbirds do, but way more intimidating than
>hummingbirds. So do dragonflies have any method of injuring people?
>


No.


--

- Charles
-
-does not play well with others

[George]

"Pam Gibbs" > wrote in message
...
> We have always had a few small ones around the yard but I just saw one at
> the new pond that was as big as my hand and was hovering in front of me,
> looking me over like hummingbirds do, but way more intimidating than
> hummingbirds. So do dragonflies have any method of injuring people?
>

If you are afraid of bugs, I suppose they could scare you off the porch.

[Mark Bannister]

Been there, done that. The big ones can have very large jaws. If you
grab one make sure you know where the mouth is.


>
> they CAN bite (I caught one as a child and to get free it bit me (and drew
> blood)), but as a general rule they don't swarm or attack people..
>
> looking back I deserved the bite I got!!!
>
> HTH
>
> Mark
>
>

[George]

"Lostin1999" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Pam Gibbs" > wrote in message
> ...
>> We have always had a few small ones around the yard but I just saw one at
>> the new pond that was as big as my hand and was hovering in front of me,
>> looking me over like hummingbirds do, but way more intimidating than
>> hummingbirds. So do dragonflies have any method of injuring people?
>>
> they CAN bite (I caught one as a child and to get free it bit me (and drew
> blood)), but as a general rule they don't swarm or attack people..
>
> looking back I deserved the bite I got!!!
>
> HTH
>
> Mark
>

When I was in college many years ago, I was walking down the stairway of the
dormitory with my roommate, and we stopped at the bottom while my friend bought
a cola from the vending machines. I sat down on the steps waiting for him,
placed my hand on the step beside me, and suddenly had this very sharp pain in
my hand. I pulled my hand away very quickly and looked down. What did I see?
The largest Praying Mantis I'd ever seen (it must have been five inches long).
It had it's forelegs reared up like he was going to box me! Man did that hurt.
He drew blood too.

A few weeks later, one flew into our room, and we kept it as a third "roommate",
feeding it whatever bugs we could find around. One day, I was laying on my bed
reading a text book when it flew all the way across the room and landed on top
of the tone arm of the turntable of my stereo. I don't remember what I was
listening to, but I had a record playing at the time. The Mantis stood there
unmoving on top of the tone arm for the longest time. I was amazed that it
didn't make the record skip. As I watched, I noticed that there was a moth at
the top of the mirror behind the stereo. After what seemed forever, the Mantis
slowly crept down from the tone arm and got a huge surprise when he stepped onto
the turning record. His upper body (thorax) weaved in circles really fast while
he tried to keep his balance on the turning record. When he almost reached the
other side of the tonearm (the hard way), he jumped off of the back of the
stereo, and landed on the book shelf. After a few minutes, he slowly crept up
the mirror, going after the moth. He got to within an inch of it, and stopped
for a long time. Right when he was about to pounce on it (he reminded me of a
cat ready to pounce on a string), the moth flew off. He looked so dejected, I
but I had to laugh. It was the coolest thing I'd ever seen an insect do. True
story.

[Pam Gibbs]

What a story! Plus now you are the holder of the "Strangest Dorm Pet"
award, having surpassed my friend who kept a duck in his room for three
years.






" George" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Lostin1999" > wrote in message
> ...
> >
> > "Pam Gibbs" > wrote in message
> > ...
> >> We have always had a few small ones around the yard but I just saw one
at
> >> the new pond that was as big as my hand and was hovering in front of
me,
> >> looking me over like hummingbirds do, but way more intimidating than
> >> hummingbirds. So do dragonflies have any method of injuring people?
> >>
> > they CAN bite (I caught one as a child and to get free it bit me (and
drew
> > blood)), but as a general rule they don't swarm or attack people..
> >
> > looking back I deserved the bite I got!!!
> >
> > HTH
> >
> > Mark
> >
>
> When I was in college many years ago, I was walking down the stairway of
the
> dormitory with my roommate, and we stopped at the bottom while my friend
bought
> a cola from the vending machines. I sat down on the steps waiting for
him,
> placed my hand on the step beside me, and suddenly had this very sharp
pain in
> my hand. I pulled my hand away very quickly and looked down. What did I
see?
> The largest Praying Mantis I'd ever seen (it must have been five inches
long).
> It had it's forelegs reared up like he was going to box me! Man did that
hurt.
> He drew blood too.
>
> A few weeks later, one flew into our room, and we kept it as a third
"roommate",
> feeding it whatever bugs we could find around. One day, I was laying on
my bed
> reading a text book when it flew all the way across the room and landed on
top
> of the tone arm of the turntable of my stereo. I don't remember what I
was
> listening to, but I had a record playing at the time. The Mantis stood
there
> unmoving on top of the tone arm for the longest time. I was amazed that
it
> didn't make the record skip. As I watched, I noticed that there was a
moth at
> the top of the mirror behind the stereo. After what seemed forever, the
Mantis
> slowly crept down from the tone arm and got a huge surprise when he
stepped onto
> the turning record. His upper body (thorax) weaved in circles really fast
while
> he tried to keep his balance on the turning record. When he almost
reached the
> other side of the tonearm (the hard way), he jumped off of the back of the
> stereo, and landed on the book shelf. After a few minutes, he slowly
crept up
> the mirror, going after the moth. He got to within an inch of it, and
stopped
> for a long time. Right when he was about to pounce on it (he reminded me
of a
> cat ready to pounce on a string), the moth flew off. He looked so
dejected, I
> but I had to laugh. It was the coolest thing I'd ever seen an insect do.
True
> story.
>
>

[Benign Vanilla]

"Pam Gibbs" > wrote in message
...
> We have always had a few small ones around the yard but I just saw one at
> the new pond that was as big as my hand and was hovering in front of me,
> looking me over like hummingbirds do, but way more intimidating than
> hummingbirds. So do dragonflies have any method of injuring people?

According to my Charlie Brown Encyclopedia, as a child, Dragon flies, as
told by Lucy, would steal your tongue. According to Linus, that is not true.

BV.

[Ka30P]

Don't grab a dragonfly and it won't chew on you.
They won't do any damage otherwise.
(But they will sew up your lips - Devil's Darning Needle)


kathy :-)
algae primer
http://hometown.aol.com/ka30p/myhomepage/garden.html

[George]

"Pam Gibbs" > wrote in message
...
> What a story! Plus now you are the holder of the "Strangest Dorm Pet"
> award, having surpassed my friend who kept a duck in his room for three
> years.
>
>

Well, he wasn't exactly a pet. We just couldn't bring ourselves to throw him
out. You know how college kids are.

>
>
>
> " George" > wrote in message
> ...
>>
>> "Lostin1999" > wrote in message
>> ...
>> >
>> > "Pam Gibbs" > wrote in message
>> > ...
>> >> We have always had a few small ones around the yard but I just saw one
> at
>> >> the new pond that was as big as my hand and was hovering in front of
> me,
>> >> looking me over like hummingbirds do, but way more intimidating than
>> >> hummingbirds. So do dragonflies have any method of injuring people?
>> >>
>> > they CAN bite (I caught one as a child and to get free it bit me (and
> drew
>> > blood)), but as a general rule they don't swarm or attack people..
>> >
>> > looking back I deserved the bite I got!!!
>> >
>> > HTH
>> >
>> > Mark
>> >
>>
>> When I was in college many years ago, I was walking down the stairway of
> the
>> dormitory with my roommate, and we stopped at the bottom while my friend
> bought
>> a cola from the vending machines. I sat down on the steps waiting for
> him,
>> placed my hand on the step beside me, and suddenly had this very sharp
> pain in
>> my hand. I pulled my hand away very quickly and looked down. What did I
> see?
>> The largest Praying Mantis I'd ever seen (it must have been five inches
> long).
>> It had it's forelegs reared up like he was going to box me! Man did that
> hurt.
>> He drew blood too.
>>
>> A few weeks later, one flew into our room, and we kept it as a third
> "roommate",
>> feeding it whatever bugs we could find around. One day, I was laying on
> my bed
>> reading a text book when it flew all the way across the room and landed on
> top
>> of the tone arm of the turntable of my stereo. I don't remember what I
> was
>> listening to, but I had a record playing at the time. The Mantis stood
> there
>> unmoving on top of the tone arm for the longest time. I was amazed that
> it
>> didn't make the record skip. As I watched, I noticed that there was a
> moth at
>> the top of the mirror behind the stereo. After what seemed forever, the
> Mantis
>> slowly crept down from the tone arm and got a huge surprise when he
> stepped onto
>> the turning record. His upper body (thorax) weaved in circles really fast
> while
>> he tried to keep his balance on the turning record. When he almost
> reached the
>> other side of the tonearm (the hard way), he jumped off of the back of the
>> stereo, and landed on the book shelf. After a few minutes, he slowly
> crept up
>> the mirror, going after the moth. He got to within an inch of it, and
> stopped
>> for a long time. Right when he was about to pounce on it (he reminded me
> of a
>> cat ready to pounce on a string), the moth flew off. He looked so
> dejected, I
>> but I had to laugh. It was the coolest thing I'd ever seen an insect do.
> True
>> story.
>>
>>
>
>

[[email protected]]

My kids and I are always holding our fingers up when we are in the
swimming pool, to allow the dragonflies to land on our fingers. It
has become a game to see who can entice the most dragonflies to land
on thier fingers or hands. We have never heard of anyone being
injured by a dragonfly. And I am pretty sure they eat other bugs,
possibly even mosquitos.

Don't be afraid of dragonflies, they are very nice to humans and
pretty to look at up close too.

Norman



On Tue, 13 Jul 2004 11:55:58 -0500, "Pam Gibbs"
> wrote:

>We have always had a few small ones around the yard but I just saw one at
>the new pond that was as big as my hand and was hovering in front of me,
>looking me over like hummingbirds do, but way more intimidating than
>hummingbirds. So do dragonflies have any method of injuring people?
>

[Ka30P]

Norman wrote >>
It
has become a game to see who can entice the most dragonflies to land
on thier fingers or hands.<<

neat!!

>>We have never heard of anyone being
injured by a dragonfly. <<

They'll only bite if you tried to grasp them.

>>And I am pretty sure they eat other bugs,
possibly even mosquitos.<<<<

Yup, do they ever eat mosquitoes! There was a town in New England who used
dragonflies as their only mosquito control (this was before West Nile).


kathy :-)
algae primer
http://hometown.aol.com/ka30p/myhomepage/garden.html