Wandering Glider (Pantala flavescens)

Cover photo by Alan Manson.

Find the Wandering Glider in the FBIS database (Freshwater Biodiversity Information System) here.

Family Libellulidae

Identification

Medium-large size

Length reaches 53mm; Wingspan up to 90mm.

Pantala flavescens is easily recognised by its distinctive, tapered abdomen shape, yellowish to orange-red colouration, and long, broad-based wings. Males turn increasingly red on the abdomen as they age and are more colourful than females.

The Wandering Glider 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.

Habitat

The favoured breeding habitat of the Wandering Glider is ephemeral or seasonal pools, pans and dams which it rapidly colonises after rain. The Wandering Glider occurs in all biomes in Southern Africa and is liable to turn up almost anywhere after a downpour. They are often found in large numbers hawking over lawns, sports fields, and any other open spaces.

Behaviour

The Wandering Glider is a highly aerial species that spends much of the day on the wing. It is usually gregarious and frequently joins mixed species hunting swarms at dusk. They hunt in continuous aerial flight and do not hawk insects from a perch. Resting individuals hang vertically from an exposed twig or similar vantage point.

Wandering Gliders make an annual multi-generational migration of some 18,000 km from India to Africa, and back again. They use the prevailing winds and a branched and complex network of migratory routes, stopping over on island archipelagos like the Maldives and Seychelles to refuel and breed. Migrating swarms breed opportunistically as they go. To complete the journey, individual Wandering Gliders fly more than 6,000 km! This is one of the farthest known migrations of all insect species!

African populations migrate erratically, or nomadically within the African continent before making the journey back across the Indian Ocean.

In South Africa (and elsewhere) Wandering Gliders are known to follow weather systems, appearing in areas in large numbers immediately before and after thunderstorms.

The Wandering Glider is on the wing from October to May in South Africa.

Status and Conservation

The Wandering Glider is abundant across much of South Africa. It is less common at the southern edge of its range in the winter rainfall regions of the Western, Eastern, and Northern Cape provinces. The Wandering Glider is listed as of Least Concern in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

Distribution

The Wandering Glider is considered to be the most widespread dragonfly species on the planet, occurring on every continent except Antarctica, although it is rare in Europe. The Wandering Glider has been recorded throughout South Africa. The relative paucity of records in the arid and semi-arid interior of South Africa (see maps below) is due to fewer observers in those areas as the Wandering Glider is common in in this region after summer rains.

Below is a map showing the distribution of records for Wandering Glider in the OdonataMAP database as at February 2020.

Below is a map showing the distribution of records for Wandering Glider in the OdonataMAP database as of December 2024.

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

The use of photographs by Alan Manson is acknowledged. All other photographs by Ryan Tippett.

Wandering Glider Pantala flavescens (Fabricius, 1798)

Other common names: Globe Skimmer (Alternative English Name); Narbroekie (Afrikaans)

Recommended citation format: Loftie-Eaton M; Navarro R; Tippett RM; Underhill L. 2025. Wandering Glider Pantala flavescens. Biodiversity and Development Institute. Available online at https://thebdi.org/2020/05/12/lucia-widow-palpopleura-lucia/

References: Tarboton, M; Tarboton, W. (2019). A Guide to the Dragonflies & Damselflies of South Africa. Struik Nature.

Samways, MJ. (2008). Dragonflies and Damselflies of South Africa. Pensoft

Samways, MJ. (2016). Manual of Freshwater Assessment for South Africa: Dragonfly Biotic Index.Suricata 2. South African National Biodiversity Institute, Pretoria

Martens, A; Suhling, F. (2007). Dragonflies and Damselflies of Namibia. Gamsberg Macmillan.