Wandering Glider
Pantala flavescens
- Least concern
- Card rarity: Common
- Insects
Pantala flavescens, the globe skimmer, globe wanderer or wandering glider, is a wide-ranging dragonfly of the family Libellulidae. 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. It is considered to be the most widespread dragonfly on the planet, with good populations on every continent except Antarctica, although rare in Europe. Globe skimmers make an annual multigenerational journey of some 18,000 km ; to complete the migration, individual globe skimmers fly more than 6,000 km ; one of the farthest known migrations of all insect species.
Classification
- Class
- Insecta
- Order
- Odonata
- Family
- Libellulidae
- Genus
- Pantala