Insect Migration
Insect migration is the seasonal movement of insects from one region to another, often over
long distances, in search of favourable climate, breeding grounds, or food sources. It is a
survival strategy to escape harsh environmental conditions like cold, drought, or food
scarcity.
Key features of insect migration
• Persistent and directed movement
• Not immediately influenced by local resources
• Involves long-distance travel (often hundreds or thousands of km)
• Usually seasonal or cyclical
• Often involves return or replacement generations (multi-generational)
Migration distances in the animal world
Arctic tern
Short-tailed Shearwater
Pantala flavescens
Bar-tailed Godwit
Humpback whale
Bar-headed Goose
European eel
Monarch butterfly
Caribou
Ladybirds
0 20000 40000 60000 80000 100000
Distance travelled in km
Insect migration in comparison to migration in of other animals
Types of Insect Migration
Type Description Example
Happens regularly every year Monarch butterfly (USA to and
Obligate
regardless of conditions from Mexico)
Triggered by environmental changes
Facultative Locusts
(e.g., drought)
One-way Only outward migration, no return Armyworms
Return migration after breeding or
Two-way Monarch butterfly
feeding
Insects that migrate
• Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus): Up to 4,000 km (Canada to Mexico), multi-
generational round trip. Navigation is by Sun compass, circadian rhythm, and genetic
cues.
• Desert Locust (Schistocerca gregaria): Thousands of km across Africa, Middle East,
India, triggered by rainfall and food abundance, solitary phase develops into
gregarious/swarming phase. Causes devastation of crops.
• Hoverflies (Episyrphus spp.): Migrates across Europe and Asia.
• Honeybees (Apis dorsata): Seasonal shifts in nesting sites (India, SE Asia) based on
floral availability
• Fall Armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda): Migration from tropical regions to
temperate North America for breeding and feeding
• Brown Planthopper (Nilaparvata lugens): Migration from East Asia to temperate rice-
growing areas
Longest migration by an insect
Pantala flavescens a dragonfly in the
family Libellulidae, is the world’s
most widespread and far-traveling
insect even farther than that of the
monarch butterfly. It performs a
transoceanic, multi-generational
migration, driven by the search for
rain-fed habitats to reproduce. The
migratory globe skimmer dragonfly
(Pantala flavescens) is hypothesised
to migrate from India across the
Indian Ocean to East Africa in the
autumn, with a subsequent
generation thought to return to India
from East Africa the following
spring. This journey covers
thousands of kilometres, making it a
marvel of insect endurance and navigation. Its route spans India, Maldives, Seychelles, East
Africa and return.
• Its flight across the Indian Ocean is a phenomenon not known in any insect before.
• It uses monsoon wind currents to assist long-distance travel.
Before the confirmation of the distance travelled by Pantala, the monarch butterfly had the
distinction of the longest migrating insect in the world.
• Monarch butterfly migration is the phenomenon, mainly across North America.
• The subspecies Danaus plexippus plexippus migrates each autumn to overwintering
sites on the West Coast of California or mountainous sites in Central Mexico.
• This massive movement of butterflies has been recognized as "one of the most
spectacular natural phenomena in the world.
• Monarchs are considered "Endangered" by the IUCN (as of 2022).
• Monarchs can fly up to 80 km (50 miles) in a day. The overwintering sites in Mexico
are so densely packed that millions of butterflies weigh down tree branches.
Proposed migration route of Pantala flavescens (Anderson, 2009). The yellow dots indicate locations
where Pantala flavescens have been reported, Source: [Link]