View the above photo record (by Alan Manson) in OdonataMAP here.
Find the Wandering Glider in the FBIS database (Freshwater Biodiversity Information System) here.
Family Libellulidae
Pantala flavescens – WANDERING GLIDER
(Fabricius, 1798)
Identification
Medium-large size
Length reaches 53mm; Wingspan up to 90mm.
Pantala flavescens is easily recognised by its distinctive, tapered shape, yellowish to orange-red colouration and long, broad-based wings.
Most resembles Tramea basilaris (Keyhole Glider) and Tramea limbata (Ferruginous Glider). They are similar in size, shape and behaviour but Pantala flavescens does not have dark patches at the base of the hind wings.
Click here for more details on identification of the Wandering Glider.
Near Hluhluwe, KwaZulu-Natal
Photo by Ryan Tippett
Mpempe Pan, KwaZulu-Natal
Photo by Ryan Tippett
Habitat
The favoured breeding habitat is at seasonal pools, pans and dams which it rapidly colonises after rain. Liable to turn up almost anywhere after a down pour. Often found in large numbers hawking over lawns, sports fields and any other open spaces.
Photo by Ryan Tippett
Photo by Ryan Tippett
Behaviour
A highly aerial species that spends much of the day on the wing. Resting individuals hang vertically from a perch.
Usually gregarious and frequently joins mixed species hunting swarms at dusk.
Wandering Gliders make an annual multi-generational journey of some 18,000 km; to complete the migration, individual Wandering Gliders fly more than 6,000 km—one of the farthest known migrations of all insect species!
African populations migrate between India and Africa and also within the African continent.
On the wing from October to May.
Status and Conservation
Abundant across much of South Africa. Less numerous in the Northern and Western Cape. Listed as of Least Concern in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
Distribution
It is considered to be the most widespread dragonfly on the planet occurring on every continent except Antarctica although it is rare in Europe.
Present throughout South Africa, although its occurence is more erratic in the south.
Below is a map showing the distribution of records for Wandering Glider in the OdonataMAP database as at February 2020.
The next map below is an imputed map, produced by an interpolation algorithm, which attempts to generate a full distribution map from the partial information in the map above. This map will be improved by the submission of records to the OdonataMAP section of the Virtual Museum.
Ultimately, we will produce a series of maps for all the odonata species in the region. The current algorithm is a new algorithm. The objective is mainly to produce “smoothed” maps that could go into a field guide for odonata. This basic version of the algorithm (as mapped above) does not make use of “explanatory variables” (e.g. altitude, terrain roughness, presence of freshwater — we will be producing maps that take these variables into account soon). Currently, it only makes use of the OdonataMAP records for the species being mapped, as well as all the other records of all other species. The basic maps are “optimistic” and will generally show ranges to be larger than what they probably are.
These maps use the data in the OdonataMAP section of the Virtual Museum, and also the database assembled by the previous JRS funded project, which was led by Professor Michael Samways and Dr KD Dijkstra.
Further Resources
Virtual Museum (OdonataMAP > Search VM > By Scientific or Common Name)
More common names: Globe Skimmer (Alternative English Name); Narbroekie (Afrikaans)
Type Locality: India, no locality data available.
Recommended citation format: Loftie Eaton. M; Hofmeyr S; Tippett RM; Underhill L. Wandering Glider Pantala flavescens. Biodiversity and Development Institute. Available online at http://thebdi.org/2020/05/11/wandering-glider-pantala-flavescens/
