Pantala Flight

Pantala flavescens (Wandering Glider) invaded Montpelier today. They cruised the intersection of State and Main. They hovered in the parking lot of the Shaw’s grocery store. And they patrolled in front of the Vermont Statehouse. Few people noticed the Pantala today, at least until I went out with the net and started swinging.

What’s amazing about today’s flight is its timing. Exactly one year ago, on August 13, 2009, Montpelier hosted another Pantala arrival. I’ve been seeing them in town for the past few weeks, but not in the numbers I noticed today. Must be something about the 13th. Aren’t we lucky!

As I’ve written before in a post about dragonfly swarms, Pantala flavescens is a flying machine. It is found on every continent except Antarctica. This dragonfly can cross oceans, making Pantala the champion flier among dragonflies, in many respect the albatross of insects. Along the way, it feeds on aerial plankton, insects, spiders and smaller organisms floating not on ocean currents but on air currents. Pantala can also store fat, like birds, to power long-distance flight.

Although dragonflies here in the West are sometimes viewed as agents of the devil (“Devil’s Darning Needles”), Pantala is a symbol of courage and victory in Japan. Large numbers appear in Honshu (the nation’s main island) and Kyushu (the third largest island) around August 15, a date Buddhists believe spirits visit their homes.