Image: Pantala flavescens at Kadavoor

Description: Pantala flavescens, Globe Skimmer or Wandering Glider, is a wide-ranging dragonfly of the family Libellulidae. This species and Pantala hymenaea, the "Spot-winged Glider", are the only members of the genus Pantala from the subfamily Pantalinae. It was first described by Fabricius in 1798. It is considered to be the most widespread dragonfly on the planet. The male is a medium sized dragonfly and has a light golden brown thorax and the abdomen is deep yellow at the base and more of a burnt orange dorsally. There is a broken middorsal line which becomes more prominent at S7-9. The caudal appendages are black. The female is similar to the male, except the thorax is very pale yellow and the abdomen is a deeper yellow. The base of the wings is also yellow and the base of S-1 is white. The most obvious difference between male and female is the wings - the female wings have a brown tinge, whereas the male's wings are clear.
Title: Pantala flavescens at Kadavoor
Credit: Own work
Author: Jeevan Jose
Permission: Jeevan Jose, Kerala, India, the copyright holder of this work, hereby publishes it under the following license:
Usage Terms: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0
License: CC BY-SA 4.0
License Link: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
Attribution Required?: Yes