The wandering glider, a 4.5cm-long dragonfly, has been identified as undertaking the longest migration of any known insect. This journey can span up to 18,000km across generations, travelling between India and east Africa.
Individual wandering gliders are capable of crossing 3,500km of open water, such as the Indian Ocean, by utilising high-altitude monsoon winds. Their larvae can develop within 38 days, allowing females to lay up to 2,000 eggs and exploit temporary water sources, including swimming pools.
This extensive migration was first proposed by marine biologist Charles Anderson in 2009 and later confirmed by isotope evidence in 2012. A 2016 genetic study further revealed that wandering gliders interbreed as one global population.
Ben Price, principal curator of entomology at the Natural History Museum in London, noted that this significant migration by a common insect was only discovered in the current century.