According to an article entitled, "Discovering dragonflies that cross oceans" which you can read by clicking on the following link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/punctuated-equilibrium/2011/apr/06/1 a Marine Biologist named Doctor Charles Anderson has discovered that a species of Dragonfly known as the globe skimmer, (Scientific name: Pantala flavescens) (pictured above) has been found to migrate 18,000 km back and forth across the Indian Ocean!!! Doctor Anderson "found that the migration begins in India and proceeds via the Maldives (a mystifying stopover, because freshwater is scarce on these low-lying atolls) continues through the Seychelles and then extends on to East Africa"
Wow isn't this an amazing athletic endeavor!! I wonder how many other insects which can fly engage in such migration? Of course we have all heard about the migration of Monarch Butterflies haven't we? Monarchs "have been known to fly more than 600 kilometres (375 miles) over water non-stop in 16 hours. Their 5,000 kilometre migration takes them eight to ten weeks, travelling only in daylight."
(source:http://www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v20/i1/monarch.asp ).
And now we have learned that a species of Dragonfly migrates over 3 times the distance that Monarchs do! There are some amazing insects in this World! Dragonflies are also very beneficial because they hunt and eat harmful insects such as mosquitoes in great numbers! Here is a link to an interview of Dr. Anderson I found online in which he discusses this amazing dragonfly species:
http://www.ted.com/talks/charles_anderson_discovers_dragonflies_that_cross_oceans.html
To learn more about this dragonfly species please visit the following websites:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pantala_flavescenshttp://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_8149000/8149714.stm
Here is an interesting video I found at Youtube which shows the flight pattern of these dragonflies in slow-motion: (source:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNZb2BSd9qE )
Source of image:
http://i793.photobucket.com/albums/yy217/mangust3/bizzare/pantala-flavescens.jpg
Insects are such an interesting species to study and learn about!
