Dragonfly Migration: Global Ecology and Climate Indicators

A female of the migratory species globe skimmer (Pantala flavescens).
Photo Credit: Johanna Hedlund

Scientific Frontline: Extended "At a Glance" Summary: Dragonfly Migration Dynamics

The Core Concept: Dragonflies and damselflies (order Odonata) are capable of extreme, long-distance migrations across continents and open oceans, representing a massive but largely unseen global movement of biomass.

Key Distinction/Mechanism: Unlike the vast majority of migratory insects that must complete their journeys across multiple successive generations, certain dragonfly species possess the rare physiological capacity to execute an entire round-trip migration cycle within a single lifetime, rivaling the navigational feats of migratory birds.

Major Frameworks/Components:

• Evolutionary Adaptation: Migration pathways have evolved independently multiple times across Odonata species, functioning primarily as a biological mechanism to escape adverse environmental conditions such as extreme cold, drought, or degraded reproductive habitats.
• Altitudinal and Transoceanic Navigation: Migratory routes range from localized vertical altitudinal shifts (moving to cooler mountain elevations and returning) to vast transoceanic journeys, such as the globe skimmer's (Pantala flavescens) multi-thousand-kilometer flights spanning India, the Maldives, and eastern Africa.
• Bio-Indicator Function: Because they are highly sensitive to water quality and environmental shifts, migratory dragonflies act as observable biological sensors, providing a visible proxy for tracking the mass migration of other, less visible insect populations.

Branch of Science: Entomology, Evolutionary Ecology, Zoology, Environmental Science.

Future Application: Researchers intend to use dragonfly migration tracking to map global insect movements, identify critical ecological corridors requiring formal conservation, and monitor the real-time impacts of climate change on vulnerable ecosystems.

Why It Matters: Understanding dragonfly migration provides a vital framework for tracking the movement of less visible insects—including essential pollinators, agricultural pests, and disease vectors—while offering actionable, real-time data on the health of global water systems and shifting climate boundaries.

Three migrant hawker dragonflies (Aeshna mixta) photographed in Pape, Latvia, during a larger migration.
Photo Credit: Johanna Hedlund

They cross oceans, glide on monsoon winds, and can appear in new places after thousands of kilometers in the air. Now, a new study from Lund University shows that dragonflies are among nature’s most extreme migrants—and that their journeys may help us understand climate change.

Dragonflies and damselflies are predatory insects with powerful jaws, compound eyes, and spectacular colors. What is less well known is their ability, like migratory birds, to travel long distances and overcome geographically challenging barriers such as the Indian Ocean and the Alps.

The Results Reveal an Unseen World Above Our Heads

For a long time, scattered observations and papers have indicated migratory behavior in a number of dragonfly species. Now, a comprehensive study of this global phenomenon has been completed. After several years of work and a review of 392 papers, the researchers have identified 100 species with documented migratory behavior and a further 85 that are also likely to migrate. The results reveal an unseen world above our heads—where insects undertake journeys that can, in some cases, rival those of migratory birds.

"Many people see dragonflies as something that hovers over a forest pond for a few days in July. But some species fly across continents and open seas. It is truly staggering when you begin to grasp the scale," says researcher Johanna Hedlund at Lund University, who led the study.

The research also shows that the ability to migrate has evolved several times over the course of evolution, mainly as a way to escape cold, drought, and environments where reproduction has become impossible. Most dragonflies, like other migratory insects, complete their round-trip migration over several generations. Others do something even more unusual: they fly from their hatching sites in hot valleys up to cooler elevations in the mountains—only to return later.

"I was genuinely surprised by how many examples there are of dragonflies completing an entire migration cycle, that is, a round-trip journey, within a single lifetime. That is rare in insects and, oddly enough, something research has not paid much attention to before," says Johanna Hedlund.

The researchers suggest that dragonflies can serve as guides to the vast, largely invisible mass migration of insects taking place globally. Because dragonflies are easy to recognize, they can help scientists understand how other insects move between ecosystems—from pollinating hoverflies to pests and disease vectors. Their migration routes can also reveal which environments are especially important to protect for migratory insects. In addition, dragonflies are sensitive to water quality and environmental changes, making them important indicator species.

"Dragonflies function almost like nature’s own sensors. By tracking their movements and where they thrive, we can better understand how ecosystems and the climate are changing," concludes Johanna Hedlund.

Published in journal: Biological Reviews

Title: Flight of the dragons: a global review of migration in Odonata

Authors: Johanna S.U. Hedlund, Myles Menz, Jason W. Chapman, and Alexander Hayward

Source/Credit: Lund University

Edited by: Scientific Frontline

Reference Number: ent061426_01

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