Every October, the globe skimmer dragonfly, Pantala flavescens, migrates from India to Africa via the Maldives in the Indian Ocean. The nonstop journey from the Maldives across the Indian Ocean to Somalia is 2500 kilometers.
The dragonfly is just a few centimeters long so for its body size, this is the longest nonstop journey of any creature.
This extraordinary feat has long puzzled biologists who wonder how such a small creature can endure over such long distances. Various researchers have debated the role of wind, rain and life cycle on this phenomenon. But in the absence of sensors small enough to track insect flight over these distances, nobody has settled the question of how P. flavescens achieves this feat.
