Name: Dragonflies that fly across oceans
Uploaded: 2009-12-17T09:06:00Z
Duration: 16 min 21 s
Description: While living and working as a marine biologist in Maldives, Charles Anderson noticed sudden explosions of dragonflies at certain times of year. He explains how he carefully tracked the path of a plain, little dragonfly called the globe skimmer, only to discover that it had the longest migratory journey of any insect in the world.

While living and working as a marine biologist in Maldives, Charles Anderson noticed sudden explosions of dragonflies at certain times of year. He explains how he carefully tracked the path of a plain, little dragonfly called the globe skimmer, only to discover that it had the longest migratory journey of any insect in the world.

Dragonflies that fly across oceans

A humble dragonfly called the globe skimmer completes an astonishing 16,000-kilometer journey across the Indian Ocean every year, crossing vast stretches of open water where there is no freshwater for breeding. Despite their size, these insects ride high-altitude winds from India to Africa, synchronizing their migration with monsoon rains. This journey, accomplished over four generations, is twice as long as the famed Monarch butterfly migration. Birds like the Amur Falcon and Eurasian Roller follow the same transoceanic route, guided by the same seasonal winds and rains.