Charles P. Thomas, age 11, of Merrillville, Indiana, for his question:

Is it true that dragonflies cannot walk?

Sometimes a dragonfly may take a few tottering steps. But her six long skinny legs were not made for walking. They are used a great deal for perching on twiggy foliage    and together they form an excellent market basket. But walking around is not that important. For the 5,000 or so dragonfly cousins include the champion fliers of the. entire insect world.

The glamorous dragonflies are at their best on summer days. Sunbeams glisten from their big gauzy wings. Their long skinny bodies shine like polished metals with greens and blues, yellows and reds. Each species favors its own scheme of jewel tone colors. The large true dragonflies are the champion insect fliers    and some of them can even outfly small birds. Their glistening wings vibrate as they dart among the foliage, bank and turn, suddenly brake and hover over a quiet pool or stream.

These insects keep so busy because they are always famished. And their only food is meat, alive and kicking. Their menus include flies, midges, mosquitoes and almost any insect that comes within reach. And most of these food items are caught on the wing.

As a dragonfly hunter zooms through the air, he carries a market basket which he creates by entwining his long skinny legs in a sort of net. He can outfly and out¬maneuver other insects and his leggy market basket is just fine for scooping up his victims. Sometimes he eats a snack as he flies, then zooms right on to catch the next one. Sometimes he catches a beetle or some other largish bug. Then he may perch on a twig and enjoy a sit down dinner.

But when he lands, he rarely if ever moves from his perch. He can cling by his toes, but his long skinny legs are too weak to do much walking. During the courting season, he may creep a few steps forward to grab hold of a lady dragonfly. When it's time to lay her eggs, she must place them in or on the water. Sometimes she has to take a few steps to lay her eggs on a submerged water weed. But walking is so tiresome that she often perches on an overhanging twig and drops the eggs into the water.

Perhaps a dragonfly could take a walk if he tried, but those skinny weak legs would not take him very far. In any case, he seems to detest this form of exercise.

After all, such a splendid flier does not need to walk or run    and he has more useful things to do with his long skinny legs.

Dragonflies are amphibious insects, which means that they live part of their lives in the water and part on the land. The eggs hatch into grubby nymphs    always famished like their parents. They, too, live on live meat, though they catch it and gobble it under water. As they grow, they molt their skins for larger ones. After about one year and 12 molts, they are ready to emerge with their gauzy wings and gorgeous colors. Then they zoom off through the air.