Yellowknife (July 23/03) - Dragonflies are an essential part of the environment.

So said Paul Catling, a Northern Odonata specialist from Ottawa, Saturday morning at the Northern Frontier Visitors Centre.

The second damselfly that Michael Marsh caught during the Dragonfly Walk and Talk. - Amy Collins/NNSL photos

Catling led a group of 40 around the small pond behind the centre in search of dragonflies.

During the past few years dragonfly watching "has been a real recreation opportunity. It's becoming really, really popular."

Catling said dragonflies are extremely important in the food chain since they are the major food of ducks and fish. They also eat mosquitoes.

"They occupy a great variety of environments," he said. "They're important as environmental indicators because they're in a stream all the time."

Dragonflies leave their larvae skin behind on the water and scientists test the skin to determine a lake's water quality.

There are two categories of the insects: the dragonfly (nicknamed the Jet) and the damselfly (the Helicopter). The NWT has 35 different species of dragonflies, compared to 33 in the Yukon.

"A kid caught a dragonfly within 30 seconds of being outside," said Suzanne Carriere, an RWED employee.

Carriere, who co-organized the event along with Ecology North, was surprised by the large turn out.

"I was expecting about 20 and now there's about 40 people."

Julie Ward was also awed by the many dragonfly lovers Yellowknife has.

"I haven't been able to get near a dragonfly because of all the people." She went on the tour to learn about dragonflies and their environments.

"I learned a few things I didn't know before," she said.

"We understood they were tasty and we wanted to find out if that was true," joked Doug Townson, Ward's friend.