Freaky footage captured a swarm of dragonflies turning a Rhode Island beach into a scene akin to a Biblical plague over the weekend.
The seemingly endless swarm of dragonflies descended on Misquamicut Beach in Westerly on Saturday, when a cloud of the insects started buzzing across the beach, under umbrellas and chairs, past faces and between legs.
“I was enjoying a nice day at Misquamicut State Beach until we endured a dragonfly apocalypse,” witness Stephanie Martin told WCVB.
Some beachgoers hunkered down for cover or fled the sand for their cars.
Others stood and laughed at the incredible scene. Some kids screamed, while others swatted away at the passing bugs with shovels and water pails.
Another witness, Richard Sontag, called the incident an “invasion.”
Dragonfly swarms tend to form when the insects are either breeding in summer months or after the smaller insects they feed on are kicked into the air by weather disturbances or human activity, according to WBUR.
Individual dragonflies in the swarms can number into the billions, and the groups can be so large that radar systems detect them.
Dragonflies feed heavily on mosquitoes and various flies but have also been known to prey on smaller mammals such as hummingbirds.
They pose no danger to humans.