Your family is invited to go buggy this Halloween.

On Saturday, Oct. 31, the Fraser River Discovery Centre will be crawling with bugs.

From 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., families are invited to dress up in their Halloween costumes to inspect Fraser River bugs up close, play bug games and make bug crafts.

A press release from the centre notes that the Fraser River is full of tiny insects whose importance to the ecosystem is often overlooked. They are an important food source for fish, birds and other wildlife. They release nutrients into the water by eating decaying leaves, needles and twigs that fall into the water. They are extremely sensitive to pollution and are used by scientists to gauge the health of the river.

The release explains that, in order to decrease the willy-nillies so often associated with these amazing creatures, Creepy Crawly Day is designed to encourage an appreciation for insects.

Through web spinning, an insect life cycle memory game, insect headbands

and other hands-on activities, visitors will learn all about some of the most intricate and essential members of the river ecosystem.

The Fraser River Discovery Centre is an interpretive centre connecting communities in discovery and celebration of the living, working Fraser River.

It is located at 788 Quayside Dr. in New Westminster.

The Discovery Centre is open Wednesday to Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Admission rates apply for the exhibit galleries.

For more information about the centre and its programs, check out its website at www.fraser

riverdiscovery.org.