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Are Dragonflies Harmful to Humans?

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If the mere sight of flying insects makes you squirm just a little, then the rapidly moving dragonfly species is probably no exception. Even if you aren't the biggest fan of insects, you can breathe easy when the ever common creatures are around; they are not harmful or dangerous to human beings at all.

Stinging

Dragons are no hazard or risk to human beings. These insects do not sting people, and therefore aren't a threat in that manner unlike some other creatures -- say, the hornet, for example. Dragonflies do not possess any tools for stinging purposes, according to Texas A&M University's AgriLife Research division.

Biting

Although dragonflies are not a true biting hazard, trapping them via their abdominal regions within your hands may urge them to attempt to do so, only if you press their mouth area directly by the skin, however. Thankfully, only a massive dragonfly could even trigger the slightest sensation of a tweak to your skin -- and even in this case, it probably won't come close to causing any bleeding. If a dragonfly attempts to bite a human, it's only in an attempt to get out of the situation -- a defensive measure of sorts.

Managing the Mosquito Population

Not only are dragonflies essentially benign to humans, they actually are pretty helpful for cutting down on insects that are not quite so harmless, on the other hand. Mosquitoes are one such example of dragonfly prey. By helping manage numbers of mosquitoes, dragonflies minimize occurrences of mosquito bites in human beings. Though mosquito bites are usually not a particular danger to people, that isn't true 100 percent of the time. The bites sometimes can be a source of dangerous and infectious disease transmission.

Naming

A misleading moniker may cause dragonflies to get a scarier reputation than they actually deserve. One prime example is "horse stinger." Although the name may imply otherwise, dragonflies do not sting people, plain and simple, end of story. If the "dragon" component of dragonfly sounds intimidating to you, it comes from the insects' jaws, which are skilled at handily trapping prey -- think damselflies, gnats and flies, for example.