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Pantala flavescens

Karakara‘avai

Wandering Glider

Multimedia & Additional Resources

Type	Description	Download
Image:	Perched (Rarotonga)	82KB
Image:	Specimen (Needle, Rarotonga)	97KB
Image:	Pukapuka	73KB
Image:	Nymph and emerging adult	46KB
Image:	Emergence of adult in 5 stages	79KB
Image:	Perched (Atiu)	22KB
Image:	Specimen and thorax detail	55KB

General Information

COMMON NAMES: Wandering Glider, Globe Skimmer

TRADITIONAL NAMES: Karakara‘avai (RR), Pepe (PK)

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE circumglobal (except W.Europe), including S.Pacific to Easter Island

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Native; S.Group - very common; N.Group - very common; Land, lowlands - mountains (ridge-tops), young in Freshwater

SIGNIFICANCE LIST: Biocontrol - natural

KEY FEATURES: Medium-sized dragonfly to 50mmBL. FACE females/juveniles yellow; older males red tint. THORAX grey. WINGS long and broad, clear; male with wingtips brown. ABDOMEN yellow, tapering to the tip. FLIGHT sustained gliding. Unusual behaviour - sometimes lies on wings in still water. FOOD tiny insects, sometimes winged termites, etc. SEXES look alike.

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

Southern Group: Present Makatea:
RR	MG	AT	MK	MT	AK	PL	TK	MN
+++	P				P

Northern Group: Present
TN	MH	RK	PK	NS	SW
	+++		++++

Key to Symbols

blank	no data
-	absent	L	localised
X	extinct 'naturally'	W	widespread
XQi	quarantine intercepted	R	recent
XQe	eradicated	?	query preceding category
P	present	T?	taxonomic query
S	seasonal	nn	present, said to have no name
O	occasional	?1	present, name not investigated
++++	very common	?2	presence not verified, no name recorded
+++	common	N/A	absent, name not expected
++	uncommon
+	rare
Cook Islands islands: RR =Rarotonga, MG = Mangaia, AT =‘Ātiu, MK=Ma‘uke, MT=Miti‘āro, AK=Aitutaki, PL=Palmerston, PN=Penrhyn, MN=Manuae, TK=Takūtea, TN=Tongareva (TS=Tongaleva Spoken, TW=Tongareva Written, they say "el" but write "r"), MH=Manihiki, RK=Rakahanga, PK=Pukapuka, NS=Nassau, SW=Suwarrow. After a Polynesian name: ^=orthography query. Countries and other: FIJ=Fiji, WT=Wallis & Futuna, SAM=Samoa, TON=Tonga, NIU=Niue, CK=Cook Islands, CKM=Cook Islands Māori, FP=French Polynesia, AUS=Australs, SOC=Societies, TAH=Tahiti, TUA=Tuamotus, MQS=Marquesas, MNG=Mangareva, PIT=Pitcain group, EAS=Easter Island, HAW=Hawai‘i, NZ=New Zealand, NZM=New Zealand Māori

Scientific Taxonomy

Pantala flavescens (Fabricius, 1798)
SYNONYMS: Libellula flavescens Fabricius, 1798; Libellula viridula Palisot de Beauvois, 1805; Libellula analis Burmeister, 1839; Libellula terminalis Burmeister, 1839

TAXONOMY: ANIMALIA; ARTHROPODA; ATELOCERATA; HEXAPODA; INSECTA; PTERYGOTA; Odonata; Anisoptera; LIBELLULIDAE

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Rarotonga: specimens 7/1937 & 9/1937, C.E.Clarke, reported Wise (1980); specimens, Takuvaine Valley, Ngatangiia, summit Te Kou, Avana Valley, all 9/1969, in Wise 1980; specimens, 1950-51, in Lieftinck 1953; specimen 10/1975 in Walker & Dietz 1979; specimens, lowland, 8/1997, L.Doig; fieldspecimen+photo, Tupapa pond, 4/2005, G.McCormack, same as yellow Pantala recorded in Pukapuka - probably all are Pantala flavescens. Mangaia: specimen, male, near Kaumata Village, 6/1996, Coll.R.Fricke, ID A.Martens in Odonatologica 4(9)137-152. Pukapuka: fieldspecimen+photo, 2/2004, G.McCormack, to BPBM, ID R.Englund as Pantala sp. 5/2004.

References:
Special Reference: Wise, 1980: Records of South Pacific Dragonflies (Hexapoda: Odonata). Rec. Auckland Inst. Mus. 17:175-178, W&D79,

Data Update History (information):
zTX, zB02, zM02, zup05a, zD02, zupD05a

Web Resources

Citation Information

McCormack, Gerald (2007) Cook Islands Biodiversity Database, Version 2007.2. Cook Islands Natural Heritage Trust, Rarotonga. Online at http://cookislands.bishopmuseum.org.
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