"Modelling of dragonfly flight, energy reserves and wind speeds in the Indian Ocean have suggested that Pantala flavescens performs the longest known non-stop migration compared to body size in the animal kingdom. Specifically the theorised migratory route from Male, Maldives to Kap Hafun, Somalia, is >2500 km long and constitutes travelling 50.7 million body lengths of the dragonfly without any possibility of stopping to rest."
Not the only one, nope. Must be: Pantala flavescens. Uppercase only in the first word of the name. Is a common error.
The species can be identified by the small brown spots near the tip of wings. There is an additional "diamond-like" spot cell called Pterostigma near the tip of all dragonflies but Pantala has this, plus a small (multi-cell) brown area
> The data are circumstantial
Is true that insects can enter and travel in airplanes but the species is known to group in some Asian countries so we would need a lot of dragonflies travelling in a lot of airplanes at the same time each year. Statistically unlikely. And is a big insect that would create some stir around.
Yup, I know the term "specific epithet" :) It sounds like we both have some evolutionary biology or systematics background. However, using that term wouldn't really have aided communication here :)
It's funny what a strong reaction this provokes if you have background in systematics. This is not a minor error :)
Globe skimmers make an annual multigenerational journey of some 18,000 km (about 11,200 miles); to complete the migration, individual globe skimmers fly more than 6,000 km (3,730 miles)—one of the farthest known migrations of all insect species.
"Modelling of dragonfly flight, energy reserves and wind speeds in the Indian Ocean have suggested that Pantala flavescens performs the longest known non-stop migration compared to body size in the animal kingdom. Specifically the theorised migratory route from Male, Maldives to Kap Hafun, Somalia, is >2500 km long and constitutes travelling 50.7 million body lengths of the dragonfly without any possibility of stopping to rest."
Amazing.