The Globetrotting Dragonfly That Follows the Monsoon

The west coast of India has for many successive years been ravaged by unseasonal rains, and many cities have suffered lasting damage. The Arabian sea and the Indian Ocean, historically calm facilitators of trade, exchange of culture, cuisine and language, have been reporting stronger cyclones and storms every year.

Among the many humans that occupy the coasts of these water bodies is also a truly impressive insect that weighs less than a single gram. The globe skimmer (Pantala flavescens) is an aptly named dragonfly. It is found around the world and is known to travel great distances. It crisscrosses the same waters that spice merchants have for centuries. And controlling for body weight, its journeys are the longest non-stop migrations by any living thing.

A new study, published in August 2019, suggests the only way for globe skimmers to make these journeys is if they actively seek out the intertropical convergence zone – the buoyant area over the world’s oceans where the northeast and southeast trade winds converge. As remarkable as it is for a dragonfly so small to be able to seek out favourable wind patterns, if the findings are true, they will have many ecological implications.