Speed and Distance

For their size, many insects fly extreme­ly quickly. Most insect flights are short hops during food-gathering expeditions. Honeybees, for example, buzz from flower to flower, using a complex navi­gation system to find their way between the nest or hive and the flowers. They have a system of body language to tell other bees where to find the flowers. Flying is energetic, and few insects can sustain such a high output of energy for long. A honeybee usually flies for up to 15 minutes before it has to feed and refuel its muscles.

A few insects make long migratory flights. The North American monarch butterfly is a good example. It flies south in large groups to escape the northern winter, returning the following year. Migrating butterflies can fly for 100 miles (160 kilometers) without stopping for food. Another long-distance flier, though an unwelcome one, is the desert locust of Africa and Asia. A swarm of locusts may contain billions of insects. Locusts can fly hundreds of miles with­out feeding before they finally land and ravenously eat every blade of grass or clear fields of their crops.

FAST WINGS

The fastest flying insects are dragon­flies. Over a short distance, they have a top speed of about 60 miles (96 kilometers) per hour. The fastest wing beat ever recorded for an insect was that of a tiny midge: nearly

65,0 beats per minute. Most insects are much slower. A housefly beats its wings about 200 times every second-a mere 12,000 times a minute! Butterflies have the slowest wing beats of any insect, at around 500 times a minute.