^pA dragonfly barely an inch long has used the Earth’s winds to migrate farther than any other creature, according to recent research. The species of dragonfly called Pantala flavescens has flown thousands of miles over oceans and from continent to continent. The same species has been found as far apart as Korea, South America and India.
It used to be believed that monarch butterflies, which migrate about 2,500 miles across North America, were the longest migrating insects. But these dragonflies will travel 4,400 miles or more.
Scientists figured out the dragonfly was such a great traveler by looking at the bug’s genes in all of these different places. If the genes were different from each other, that would suggest they are breeding with each other. Instead, scientists found that no matter where they checked the dragonflies their genes were pretty much the same. That means the bugs are mingling around the world.
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Although small, the dragonflies are well equipped to make such long-distance flights. They have large wings in comparison to their body size that allows the wind to carry them in a glide for a long time, saving their energy.
The dragonflies apparently time their flights to take advantage of the weather, leaving places like India when it’s dry to fly to Africa where it is wetter. They apparently make such flights once a year.
That’s because the bugs need fresh water to mate and lay their eggs. They may even dive to Earth while flying when they see a pool so they can mate. After the eggs hatch and the babies are mature enough to fly — which takes just a few weeks — the new dragonflies join the swarm’s trek.
With this discovery scientists want to figure out how to track the dragonflies to record all of their different flight paths, the only problem is that modern GPS devices are way too big to put on a bug.
^p— Brett French^p
^pGazette Outdoors editor