Top Enders will tell you that dragonflies buzzing through the skies herald the arrival of the dry season, but there's finally scientific proof confirming the local theory.
Northern Territory folklore states that flocks of the insects can be spotted once the wet season is over, however until now there's been little data to support the belief.
Some 220 "citizen scientists" from Wadeye to Elcho Island contributed to a Charles Darwin University project, which provided the first quantitative dataset on the change in dragonfly numbers during the weather transition period.
They photographed some 1200 dragonflies between April and July, and the numbers were analysed by aquatic ecologist Professor Jenny Davis.
The CDU School of Environment head concluded that swarms of the large gliding species could be seen in abundance, particularly near the coast in April.
"The gliders are more conspicuous," Professor Davis said.
"In contrast, other species such as the painted grasshawk, which usually stay close to vegetation, became more dominant as the months progressed."
She said the results also provided information on the location of dragonfly and damselfly hotspots.
"A total of 1202 dragonflies representing 33 species and 268 damselflies representing 12 species were recorded," Professor Davis said.
Australia's tropical north has one third of the country's 300 dragonfly species. Many live in temporary water bodies which become dry at the end of the wet season.
Big flocks then fly around in search of mates, lay eggs and will remain there until the next wet season.
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