Pantala flavescens
Pantala flavescens | |
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male, Kerala, India | |
female, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Odonata |
Infraorder: | Anisoptera |
Family: | Libellulidae |
Genus: | Pantala |
Species: | P. flavescens
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Binomial name | |
Pantala flavescens | |
Distribution of Pantala flavescens | |
Synonyms | |
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Pantala flavescens,[3] the globe skimmer, globe wanderer or wandering glider,[1] is a wide-ranging dragonfly of the family Libellulidae.[1] This species and Pantala hymenaea, the "spot-winged glider", are the only members of the genus Pantala. It was first described by Johan Christian Fabricius in 1798.[4] It is considered to be the most widespread dragonfly on the planet with good population on every continent except Antarctica although rare in Europe.[1][5] 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.
Characteristics
Structure of the adult
The dragonfly is up to 4.5 cm long,[6] reaching wingspans between 7.2 cm and 8.4 cm.[7][8][9] The front side of the head is yellowish to reddish. The thorax is usually yellow to golden coloured with a dark and hairy line. There were also specimens with a brown or olive thorax. The abdomen has a similar colour as the thorax.[7][10][8]
The wings are clear and very broad at the base. There, too, there are some specimens with olive, brown and yellow wings. On Easter Island there are wandering gliders with black wings.[7][10][8]
The
The above colours explain the many scientific descriptions of this species under different names.Females show some differences compared with males. The general rule is, the males have reddish yellow abdomen marked with black whereas the females lack the reddish wash in abdomen. The males have golden yellow patch on base of hindwings and narrow apical brown spot at the hind border of wings. The females lack apical brown patches in wings.[8][9]
In mainland males, the length of the femur, the longest leg section, varies; they also have longer front and shorter hindwings than the females. The island representatives, however, have the front and hindwings longer than the female, and the femur is the same for both sexes. There are other differences between mainland and island specimens, particularly in terms of colouring. Island representatives are generally darker.[10]
Structure of the larva
The larva is between 24 and 26 mm long. It is light green with light, purple speckles. The round eyes are sideways on the bottom of the head, the abdomen and the tail blunt.[12]
The paired side plates on the eleventh
Similar species
Pantala flavescens may be confused with the P. hymenaea, the "spot-winged glider", but this has a striking brown basal fleck in the hindwing and is generally slightly darker in colour. It might be taken for a member of the genus Tramea but these usually have a distinctive stripe on their hindwings.[14]
Life cycle
Reproduction and development
As is usual in the Libellulidae family, there is no distinct courtship ritual. The females may pair many times, but usually only once a day.[15]
After mating, the migrant dragonflies fly in tandem, with the female
The larvae develop within 38 to 65 days,[17] which allows this migrant dragonfly to reproduce in temporary waters or even in swimming pools.[18] However, the larvae seem to be very sensitive to temperature.[19] The life expectancy is not known and because of their high mobility it is almost impossible to determine.
Food
The
Flight behaviour
They are very conspicuous dragonflies; seen in swarms over paddy fields, playgrounds or open areas. They fly tirelessly with typical wandering flight for hours without making any perch.
When landing, it seeks a vertical attitude.[6] Like all large dragonflies, the wings are held out from the body at rest.
Distribution and flight
The globe skimmer, as its name suggests, has a very wide distribution area, between about the 40th
Their arrival in the subtropics and tropics coincides with the Intertropical Convergence Zone.[25] More evidence of their preference for moist winds is that the dragonfly migrates to Southeast India's Tamil Nadu only after the second monsoon, which brings the rain to that region. In the rest of India, however, it arrives with the first rain-making monsoon.[21] Observations and stable isotope evidence suggests that they migrate from India or beyond to Africa across the Arabian Sea.[26][27] A recent sighting indicates the journey might start as far east as Meghalaya in India. The winds during the migration from India to mainland Africa are not as strong as the Somali jet, and thus there are multiple stopovers en route at the Maldives, Seychelles, and Mozambique. During the return journey, migrating swarms start arriving on the west coast of India May onwards, riding the strong winds of Somali Jet, and completing the journey from Africa to India, spanning about 3000 km (1860 miles) in a single flight.[28]
It is the highest-flying dragonfly, recorded at 6,200 m in the
According to recent research carried out by biologists at
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.[31]
Naming
Common name
The English common names "wandering glider" and "globe skimmer" refer to its migratory behaviour.
Scientific name
In the scientific name Pantala flavescens, the genus name Pantala means "all wings", alluding to the big and long wings. The specific name comes from the Latin flavescens, meaning "yellowish", and refers to its distinctive golden tint.[6]
The species was first described in 1798 as Libellula flavescens by Fabricius as follows:
L. [flavescens] alis hyalinis: stigmate niveo, corpore flavescente. Habitat in India Dom. Daldorff. Statura praecedentium. Caput flavescens oculis magnis, fuscis. Thorax flavescens, immaculatus. Abdomen compressum, flavescens linea dorsali nigra. Alae albae stigmate marginali niveo.
— Fabricius, Entomologia systematica emendata et aucta Supplement S. 285
The first description of this underlying
Protection status
The globe skimmer has NatureServe conservation status G5, meaning it is secure (common, widespread and abundant) worldwide. This status was awarded on 30 December 1985. In the United States, it has the national equivalent protection status N5. In Canada, however, it is lower with N4 meaning it is apparently secure – uncommon but not rare but with some cause for long-term concern. Even at this level, it is granted protected status in many states of the US and Canada.[33]
Postage stamps
Due to its wide distribution, the globe skimmer appears on a number of stamps.
On 29 July 1974 Wallis and Futuna published a 45 franc with a dragonfly over a water surface with some plants showing. It has Michel catalog number 257 appearing in a set of insect motifs. On 9 November 1975. The Pitcairn Islands published a 15 cent with a dragonfly flying on a dark blue background. Its Miche number is 154, and it also appeared in an insect collection.[34]
Wallis and Futuna published another stamp on 4 August 1998, a 36F with the dragonfly shown flying on a yellowish background. It has Michel number 736 and appeared together with other insect motifs.[38]
The latest stamp comes from 2003 and appeared in North Korea. Its value is 15 wŏn and it represents a sedentary globe skimmer on a spike.[39]
Notes
- ^ . Retrieved 19 November 2021.
- .
- ^ Paulson, D.; Schorr, M.; Abbott, J.; Bota-Sierra, C.; Deliry, C.; Dijkstra, K.-D.; Lozano, F. (2023). "World Odonata List". OdonataCentral, University of Alabama. Retrieved 14 Mar 2023.
- ^ ISBN 978-3-11-014934-0.
- ^ James William Tutt (1997). "The Entomologist's Record and Journal of Variation" (in German). London: Charles Phipps. pp. 213.
{{cite journal}}
: Cite journal requires|journal=
(help) - ^ ISBN 978-0-8117-2971-0.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-8493-0212-1.
- ^ a b c d e f "Pantala flavescens Fabricius, 1798". India Biodiversity Portal. Retrieved 2017-02-16.
- ^ a b C FC Lt. Fraser (1936). The Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma, Odonata Vol. III. Red Lion Court, Fleet Street, London: Taylor and Francis. pp. 414–416.
- ^ S2CID 84134147.
- ISBN 978-0-520-23567-0.
- ^ a b c Mark Lung, Stefan Sommer. "Pantala flavescens". Retrieved 9 March 2006.
- ^ Jerrell James Daigle (November 1992). "Florida Dragonflies (Anisoptera): A Species Key to the Aquatic Larval Stages". Technical Series. 12 (1): 23.
- ^ J.C. Abbott. "OdonataCentral: An online resource for the Odonata of North America. Austin, Texas". odonatacentral.com. Retrieved 12 May 2006.[permanent dead link]
- S2CID 84968729.
- S2CID 86460786.
- S2CID 19164081.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-565-09165-1.
- ^ J. H. Hawking, B. A. Ingram (1994). "Rate of larval development of Pantala flavescens (Fabricius) at its southern limit of range in Australia. (Odonata: Libellulidae) (zit. nach Laister)". Odonatologica. 23: 63–68.
- S2CID 33663287.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-946589-64-7.
- ISBN 978-0-9689321-6-2.
- ^ "Pantala flavescens (Wandering Glider)". Odonata Central. The University of Alabama Museums Research and Collections. Retrieved 5 April 2017.
- ^ G. Laister (2005). "Pantala flavescens auf Rhodos, mit einem Überblick über den Status der Art in Europa (Odonata: Libellulidae)". Libellula Supplement. 6: 33–40.
- ISBN 978-3-440-04553-4.
- S2CID 86187189. Archived from the originalon 2011-02-02.
- PMID 23285106.
- ISSN 2296-701X.
- ^ "Small dragonfly found to be world's longest-distance flyer". Science Daily. Retrieved 3 March 2016.
- PMID 26934181.
- ISSN 2296-701X.
- The Entomologist's Monthly Magazine. 92: 347–350.
- ^ "NatureServe Explorer: An online encyclopedia of life". NatureServe. February 2006. Retrieved 25 March 2006.
- ^ "Libellen Briefmarken 1970–1979". Gesellschaft deutschsprachiger Odonatologen. Archived from the original on 12 July 2002. Retrieved 24 March 2006.
- ^ "1983 – Tuvalu Commemorative Stamps". Tuvalu Online. Brian Cannon. Retrieved 24 March 2006.
- ^ "Libellen Briefmarken 1980–1984". Gesellschaft deutschsprachiger Odonatologen. Archived from the original on 17 December 2005. Retrieved 24 March 2006.
- ^ "Dragonfly Stamp of Botswana". Insects on Stamps. Retrieved 24 March 2006.
- ^ "Libellen Briefmarken 1995–1999". Gesellschaft deutschsprachiger Odonatologen. Archived from the original on 9 September 2002. Retrieved 24 March 2006.
- ^ "Libellen Briefmarken 2003–2005". Gesellschaft deutschsprachiger Odonatologen. Archived from the original on 17 December 2005. Retrieved 24 March 2006.
References
Initial descriptions
- Fabricius. "Entomologia systematica emendata et aucta: Supplement" (in German). pp. 285.
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(help) - Beauvois. "Insectes recueillis en Afrique et en Amérique" (in German). pp. 69.
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: Cite journal requires|journal=
(help) - Burmeister. "Handbuch der Entomologie" (in German). Band 2. pp. 852.
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(help)
Secondary literature
- Arnett H. Ross jr. (2000). American Insects. A Handbook of Insects of America North of Mexico (in German). Boca Raton: CRC Press. ISBN 978-0-8493-0212-1.
- Cynthia Berger (March 2004). Dragonflies (Wild Guides) (in German). Mechanicsburg (Pennsylvania): Stackpole Books. pp. 97. ISBN 978-0-8117-2971-0.
- Gerhard Jurzitza (1978). Unsere Libellen (in German). Franckh. ISBN 978-3-440-04553-4.
- Jill Silsby (2001). Dragonflies of the World (in German). Plymouth: The National History Museum. ISBN 978-0-565-09165-1.
Scientific literature and articles
- Philip S. Corbet (1999). Dragonflies: Behaviour and Ecology of Odonata (in German). Colchester: Harley Books. ISBN 978-0-946589-64-7.
- F. C. Fraser (1956). "A restatement of the case of Pantala flavescens (F.)(Odon., Libellulidae) as a casual visitor to Britain". ISSN 0013-8908.
- J. H. Hawking; B. A. Ingram (1994). "Rate of larval development of Pantala flavescens (Fabricius) at its southern limit of range in Australia. (Odonata: Libellulidae)". Odonatologica (in German). 23. pp. 63–68. ISSN 0375-0183.
- A. Kumar (1984). "On the life history of Pantala flavescens (Fabricius) (Libellulidae: Odonata)". Annals of the Entomological Society of America (in German). 2 (1). pp. 43–50. ISSN 0013-8746.
- G. Laister (2005). "Pantala flavescens auf Rhodos, mit einem Überblick über den Status der Art in Europa (Odonata: Libellulidae)". Libellula Supplement (in German). 6. pp. 33–40. ISSN 0723-6514.
- M. Samways; R. Osborn (1998). "Divergence in a transoceanic circumtropical dragonfly on a remote island". Journal of Biogeography (in German). 25 (5). pp. 935–946. S2CID 84134147.
- Henrik Steinmann (1997). World Catalogue of Odonata (in German). Vol. Band II (Anisoptera). Berlin/New York: de Gruyter. pp. 542f. ISBN 978-3-11-014934-0.
- K. Van Damme; H. J. Dumont (1999). "A drought–resistant larva of Pantala flavescens (Fabricius, 1798) (Odonata: Libellulidae) in the Lencois Maranhenses, NE-Brazil". International Journal of Odonatology (in German). 2. pp. 69–76. ISSN 1388-7890.