Small insects can "passively" fly over thousands of km above seas and across continents. Small insects have been netted in aircrafts thousands of feet above mid oceanic areas and have been collected alive on top of glaciers such as Greenland.

Small insect flight at high altitude in fast moving air does not require much energy expenditure from small insects. Keeping their wings in fight position, they can be transported "free" as aerial plankton. Such "migrations" have been documented, e.g. in aphids.

Hey George,

There are insects that can travel more than a 1000 km over sea. The most notable are the Dragonflies. They are among the longest distance insect migrants. Many species of Libellula, Sympetrum and Pantala are known for their mass migration. In focus, Pantala flavescens is thought to make the longest ocean crossings among insects, flying between India and Africa (2000 to 8000 km distance variation) on their migrations. Their movements are often assisted by winds thus conserving energy during flight.

As they feed on smaller insects sweeping through the air, they would not require a pit-stop for fueling up !!

Hope this helps

Cheers

Vivek

I have read that lacewings have been found in an altitude of more than several 1000 m over the ocean and these places were over 1000 km from the sea side. I think also aphids and even many apterous insects may trek such a long journey with the help of wind. However, it can be a rarity that a flying insect is able to actively travel such a distance.

You might get some data in the book of insect records:

http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/walker/ufbir/

OK, but what about speed? how fast they can fly with the help of wind? With the altitude temperature is dropping, so is not a factor for insect death?

It is complicated measuring velicity of an insect mainly over the sea.

Here you may have some data on the methodology:

http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/walker/ufbir/

Anabiosis may be an option.

Dear Andras, thank you for information, however it still looks unbelievable and fantasy. There are many factors, which seems are not well discussed. Even with highest speed recorded and with the wind help to cross the atlantic ocean will need some time. During this time insect needs energy, so needs food. Fluctuation of the temperature on high altitude will effect also and the weather. So the chances to cover such distance is very minimal, even impossible. What about if the insects are using some other way to cover such distance? Such is human help.

During October of 1988 (during an invasion of Desert Locust in Africa) many individuals of Schistocerca gregaria were found along a front reaching north from the island of St. Croix in the West Indies, south to the eastern coasts of the South American countries of Surinam and Guyana (Rainey 1989). These individuals were arriving with a sub tropical wave of low pressure that later spawned a hurricane. The distance traveled from the west coast of Africa to islands in the West Indies was 4500 km. The distance traveled was probably a mixture of active flight and gliding flight.

Some references:

Jane Rosenberg, Peter J.A. Burt 1999. Windborne displacements of Desert Locusts from Africa to the Caribbean and South America. Aerobiologia 15(3): 167-175.

Rainey, R.C. 1989. Migration and meteorology. Claredon Press, Oxford.

Drake, V.A. & R.A. Farrow. 1988. The influence of atmospheric structure and motions on insect migration. Annu. Rev. Entomol. 33: 183-210.

Concerning locust migrations over seas, see also:

M.W. Lorenz, 2009. Migration and trans-Atlantic flight of locusts. Quaternary International 196 (2009): 4-12.

In 1988, locusts swarms travelled some 5000 km non-stop from West Africa to the Americas. Several waves of locusts arrived between 7 October and 4 November 1988. This was not at all a single event. There is other examples: migration of swarms from Africa to British Isles in 1954, migration half-way across the Atlantic in 1865 and 1916, etc.

Desert locust can resist to starvation and cold temperatures. Just a few days without food is not too much for an insect living normally in desertic areas, migrating during months for food and humidity for its eggs. And they can survive quite well at low temperatures. I have seen swarms crossing the Atlas mountains in Morocco, they can settle in the snow and start again when the sun appears. No need for human help (and what kind of help for large swarms of bilion of insects ?) to cross the ocean. it's just a good flying insect. Its flying capacity is so developed that there is no genetic differences between mauritanian populations and populations from Pakistan.

Dear Georges,

I have not been there, I have not seen the lacewings. I may find the book or article where these data were written but I have no time to waste. Certainly, it is not easy to believe in things which are a bit extraordinarily. Have you visited the book of insect records? It is full with astonishing things.

Some data here:

http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract;jsessionid=7C9A70860D094C1B20824C486A726C45.journals?fromPage=online&aid=4339508

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2311.1986.tb00304.x/abstract

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1200054/Longest-insect-migration-dragonflies-fly-11-000-mile-round-trip-ocean.html

This a nice paper on Dragonflies dispersal rates from Africa to India and Oceania (Pantala flavescens). There is a nice TED talk about it too...

Anderson, R. C. (2009). Do dragonflies migrate across the western Indian Ocean? Journal of Tropical Ecology, 25(04), 347. doi:10.1017/S0266467409006087

Small insects can "passively" fly over thousands of km above seas and across continents. Small insects have been netted in aircrafts thousands of feet above mid oceanic areas and have been collected alive on top of glaciers such as Greenland.

Small insect flight at high altitude in fast moving air does not require much energy expenditure from small insects. Keeping their wings in fight position, they can be transported "free" as aerial plankton. Such "migrations" have been documented, e.g. in aphids.

Balloonist spiders are also goo dispersers. THey produce their web and throw them into the wind. They keep producing it until they get lighter and consequently begin to float and disperse in the air...

Aphids are the perfect example for that kind of flight

All these needs to be documented, which is very difficult, if not imposible, so all these ideas about their perfect flight dispersal will stay as a mythe, until well documented, with strong facts, publication does not prove it. Until now I was not able to find such facts, which can oppose contrarguments.

The capacity of swarming locusts to travel long distances was amply demonstrated by the observed trans-Atlantic crossing of S. gregaria swarms in October 1988. Ships off the coast of Africa reported large numbers of insects flying west over the Atlantic, and a few days later desert locusts were collected as they landed in the Caribbean islands (Kevan 1989; Ritchie & Pedgley 1989; Rosenberg & Burt 1999).

It is well known that locusts and moths migrate flying for many miles over the sea. But it is possible that many insects use the ships along the beaten track.

In fact, we observed the presence of many insects (Coleoptera, Lepidoptera, Hemiptera) on ferries between Italy and Albania and it's probable that Lethocerus patruelis has come from the Balkans to Italy with ships, after being attracted by the lights that are on the bridge of the boats.

http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/273/1588/767.full.pdf+html

There is a book edited by Drake and Gatehouse, 1995. Insect Migration.

Many authors are giving some interesting ideas and hypotheses, but they are still hypotheses. Even some of them trying to support these hypothesizes with some data, they don't look very trustworthy. My opinion is that most insects dispersed since Pangea until Continental drift did not separate continents in a distance, which became for insects impossible to cross it. But last 500 years insects can move also with Ships, ferryboats and more than 100 year with Cars, Aircraft and etc.

The Romans and the Spaniards were the first globalists of history. With their ships transferred bugs everywhere in the countries they conquered. Before them, the Phoenicians and the Carthaginians made the same. In the Canary Islands have been described many new species that, in the end, it was proved to be identical to those of South America: in fact, the Spaniards brought the plants in Tenerife, with the whole land around the roots, before transferring permanently in Seville, Malaga or Balcellona. Sardinia was a colony of the Carthaginians: many species werw shared with the N-Africa. The Republic of Venice, after the expeditions of Marco Polo, imported many plants from the East (and their parasites): especially insects that are on the plants at the edge of the fields of wheat.

For your information, the detailed references I gave previously:

(1) Rosenberg J, Burt P.J.A. Windborne displacements of Desert Locusts from Africa to the Caribbean and South America. Aerobiologia. 1999;15:161–175. 10.1023/A:1007529617032

(2) Kevan D.K.M. Transatlantic travelers. Antenna. 1989;13:12–15.

(3) Ritchie M, Pedgley D.E. Desert locusts cross the Atlantic. Antenna. 1989;13:10–12.

For locusts, boats were of no use to cross the Atlantic. Swarms arriving in the Caribbean and South America were large and the number of insects huge. They use winds and their trajectory is perfectly well documented.

But see also:

Song H. 2004. On the origin of the desert locust Schistocerca gregaria (Forskål) (Orthoptera: Acrididae: Cyrtacanthacridinae) Proc. R. Soc. B. 271:1641–1648. 10.1098/rspb.2004.2758

and

N.R Lovejoy, S.P Mullen, G.A Sword, R.F Chapman, and R.G Harrison, 2006. Ancient trans-Atlantic flight explains locust biogeography: molecular phylogenetics of Schistocerca. Proc Biol Sci. 273(1588): 767–774.

... for the origin of the genus Schistocerca in America.

Is there any experimental study on this issue? I have read many Manuscripts, but there are just discussion how insect fly, why and where. But I could not find an answer: can insect do it?

For dragonflies in particular, there is evidence of some species migrating hundred of km, for example Anax junius in North America and Pantala flavescens from India to Maldives (see for example http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10841-012-9540-x or http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_8149000/8149714.stm).

Dear Georges,

7 days ago I indicated these resources:

http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract;jsessionid=7C9A70860D094C1B20824C486A726C45.journals?fromPage=online&aid=4339508

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2311.1986.tb00304.x/abstract

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1200054/Longest-insect-migration-dragonflies-fly-11-000-mile-round-trip-ocean.html

Please read then.

Certainly, you have a right to be sceptic.

See here:

Article Lethocerus patruelis (Stål, 1855) in Italy: A recent introdu...

In addition to Véroniques answer, Anax junius have been known to have 'taken a wrong turn' after heavy weather, ending up in the UK. That's a 5000km + trip over sea.

Dear all. Thank you very much for your efforts to give me answer. However until now I have no exact good answer. In the examples you are giving me are still several questions: 1. In most cases insects fly few hundred km and not 1000s; 2. In most cases the papers are giving records, but there is no experimental confirmation of it; 3. finally do these insect establish in a new habitats, as far as I know there is no such information, which means they can't survive and continue normal live cycle in a new places. Could you help to give me references showing opposite? Please consider all three points in complex.

Although the evidence is not yet conclusive, research performed by Anderson strongly suggests that several species cross the Indian Ocean and breed on both sides:

http://mrc.gov.mv/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Anderson_20091.pdf

All species mentioned are well known migrators/good fliers. The only dragonfly species recorded from Iceland, for instance, was Anax ephippiger, until a stray Aeshna grandis (most likely) was found. These did not, of course, settle.

Thank you Arjan, Interesting paper. Dragonflies are really good fliers. I have little doubt that they can fly in such distance (but still not 3000 km), I am not sure about Aphids and Leafhoppers, they are soft and not very good in flying.

When I was sailor, I once seen a dragon fly arriving from the West long away in the sea, resting for just seconds on the rail around the deck, then continuing its fly toward East. It was in August 1976, on a oil tanker, the Maaskant, cruising then from Bahamas to Copenhague, crossing Orkney, and it was just in the middle of the way. Have a look on a map : it was likely more than 1500km from any firm ground, Terra-Nova of Azores. I was then unable to make any identification. Some continental birds (kind of sparrows) were also resting on board for the whole crossing, and fed by the cooker.

Try these:

Chapman JW, Bell JR, Burgin LE, Reynolds DR, Pettersson LB, Hill JK, Bonsall MB and Thomas JA (2012). Seasonal migration to high latitudes results in major reproductive benefits in an insect. PNAS 109: 14924-14929.

Alerstam T, Chapman JW, Bäckman J, Smith AD, Karlsson H, Nilsson C, Reynolds DR, Klaassen RHG and Hill JK (2011). Convergent patterns of long-distance nocturnal migration in noctuid moths and passerine birds. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 278: 3074-3080.

Chapman JW, Drake VA and Reynolds DR (2011). Recent insights from radar studies of insect flight. Annual Review of Entomology 56: 337-356.

Chapman JW, Nesbit RL, Burgin LE, Reynolds DR, Smith AD, Middleton DR and Hill JK (2010). Flight orientation behaviors promote optimal migration trajectories in high-flying insects. Science 327: 682-685.

Reynolds AM, Reynolds DR, Smith AD and Chapman JW (2010). A single wind-mediated mechanism explains high-altitude ‘non-goal oriented’ headings and layering of nocturnally-migrating insects. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 277: 765-772