Dragonflies, with their shimmering wings and acrobatic flight, are a common sight around water bodies during warmer months. A frequent question that arises when watching these aerial masters is whether they produce any sound during their impressive flights.
The Simple Answer
For the most part, dragonflies do not produce sounds that are readily audible to human ears. Unlike many other insects, dragonflies lack specialized sound-producing organs. They do not possess structures such as stridulatory organs or tymbals, which are designed to create intentional noise for communication or defense. This absence means they are not “singing” or “chirping” in the way many other well-known insects do.
How Dragonflies Fly and the Sounds They Produce
Dragonflies possess two pairs of wings that can move independently, allowing for their remarkable aerial maneuverability, including hovering and rapid changes in direction. During flight, their wings beat at a rapid rate, typically around 30 hertz. This rapid wing movement through the air creates a very faint hum or buzz. This sound is an incidental byproduct of aerodynamics, much like the subtle whirring noise produced by a fan blade.
The sound generated by a dragonfly’s wings is generally very quiet. It is often too subtle for humans to hear unless the insect is flying extremely close by, or if it is a particularly large species. The internal structure of their wings, including hollow tubes, vibrates during flight, contributing to the faint sound. This minimal sound is not a deliberate form of communication but rather a physical consequence of their powerful flight.
Distinguishing Dragonfly Sounds from Other Insects
People might occasionally mistake sounds heard near dragonflies for noises produced by the dragonflies themselves, but these are almost always sounds from other insects. The faint, unintentional hum of a dragonfly’s wings stands in stark contrast to the distinct and often loud sounds made by many other insects. For example, male cicadas produce loud songs using specialized tymbal organs. Crickets create their chirping sounds through stridulation, rubbing parts of their wings together.
Bees and mosquitoes also produce buzzing sounds, but these serve different purposes and are often more pronounced. Bees generate buzzing through their rapid wing beats and muscle activity, using different buzzes for communication, navigation, and even for “buzz pollination.” Mosquitoes produce a high-pitched buzzing sound primarily with their wings, which is often a mating call. If a loud buzzing or chirping sound is heard in the vicinity of a dragonfly, it is nearly certain to be another insect.