This lovely creature has been hanging around our pond lately.
We have dragonflies all the time. I love them. They eat mosquitoes and gnats. So besides being lovely to look at, they eat those mosquitoes that love to eat on me.
That’s a win-win.
Curious about how common red dragonflies are, I went on a research dive. I discovered red is not the rarest. Dragonfly colors range from pink (the rarest) to grey/black with green being the most common.
There are around 3000 kinds of dragonflies on earth with about 350 species in the United States alone. Dragonflies and Damselfly are often confused. There are differences. Click here to see the differences.
As you can tell I fell down the rabbit hole of research, a frequent occurrence for me. I won’t bore you with all I learned. If you want to learn more about dragonflies, click here.
The thing that fascinated my Irish folklore-lover self the most was that red dragonflies are thought to be mystical creatures from the world of fairies and spirits, a spiritual totem.
Native Indian cultures of America and the Japanese culture view a red dragonfly as a symbol of happiness, courage, love, and strength. A visit from a red dragonfly is a sign of prosperity, good luck, and signals a life change.
We’ll have to see if my red dragonfly brings good luck and prosperity. Until that happens, it’s lovely to see it fluttering around the pond.
I share your love for the dragonfly and damselfly. They have always seemed to be somehow mystical and otherworldly.