Festival celebrates dragonflies, “most successful hunter” on earth

Festival celebrates dragonf lies, ‘most successful hunter’ on earth

The raptors of the insect world will be the center of attention during the Dragonfly Festival at the ABQ BioPark Botanic Garden.

“Dragonflies are considered the raptors of the insect world,” said Pamela Dupzyk, education coordinator for the ABQ BioPark Aquarium and Botanic Garden. “They are the most successful hunter of any other animal on earth. They hit 90 percent of their targets. If you compare, lions have about a 30 percent (rate of hitting their targets), so 90 percent is pretty good.”

Dragonflies also are the world’s fastest insect and can fly as fast as 38 mph. They also are capable of traveling as far as 85 miles per day, according to Dupzyk.

“Their speed is amazing, and they are incredibly agile, she said. “They can fly backward, turn really fast, which allows them to be successful in hunting. They are pretty amazing in that way. They are incredible.”

Visitors also will learn about damselflies during the event on Saturday, July 21. Guests will learn about the life cycles of dragonflies and damselflies, how to tell them apart and the differences between the two.

“Many of them are beautiful,” Dupzyk said. “There is the blueeyed darner (dragonfly). They are one of my favorites. They are really pretty. But there are just so many beautiful ones, and they are blue and orange and red and green and purple, and most are very iridescent. And they have these crazy compound eyes. Their colors are amazing.”

Damselflies and dragonflies will be caught for the event so that guests will be able to observe them up close. They can also be found inside an observation area at the Bugarium. Many of the Botanic Garden’s dragonflies and damselflies can be found at a sanctuary pond inside the venue.

“The water does not move as fast, so there are more insects for them to eat, and it is planted with native plants that they like to rest on and hunt,” Dupzyk said. “We’ll have stations that have binoculars and a simple field guides so they learn how to identify the most common ones that you can see here.”

There are more than 100 species of dragonfly in New Mexico. There are 35 species of dragonfly and damselfly that are commonly seen at the Botanic Garden and have been photographed.

“Dragonflies are so cool,” Dupzyk said. “They’re easy to see. They are so large and come in amazing colors and they’ll sit and rest. They don’t really care about you being fairly close. They seem to be OK. You can get pretty close before they fly off, not like bees, and they are an easy insect for people to be able to see.”