Epic flight of the dragonfly
QUESTION Which insect migrates the furthest distance? FOR many years it was believed the beautiful monarch butterfly
(Danaus plexippus) held this record.
Each autumn, millions of the creatures leave their summer breeding grounds in the northeastern US and Canada and travel up to almost 5,000km to spend the winter in south-western Mexico.
The record is under threat from the diminutive dragonfly Pantala
flavescens, colloquially known as the wandering glider. A 2016 study by biologists at Rutgers University-Newark revealed that this species of dragonfly, which is less than 5cm long with transparent wings, has a migration range of 7,000km.
They achieve this by flying above 1km high, catching high-altitude winds and consuming aerial plankton and smaller insects. The researchers are unable to plot the dragonflies’ route accurately because they don’t have a tracking device small enough to attach to an insect.
Its great migrations is a conundrum of evolution, considering other members of the dragonfly family never leave the pond in which they are born. Jean Margaret Duck, Harlow, Essex. QUESTION Looking at the draw for the Euro 2020 football tournament, I wondered how long has Kazakhstan been part of Europe? THE Independent Football Association of the Republic of Kazakhstan (Fark) was created in 1992 following the dissolution of the USSR.
In 1994, it joined the Asian Football Confederation and came close to qualifying for the World Cup in 2002. The team was eliminated on goal difference in the penultimate round in the qualifiers.
By 2000, Fark had been re-formed to become the Football Federation of Kazakhstan (KFF), which was determined to be admitted into Uefa, the governing body of football in Europe.
Kazakhstan was admitted after the 2002 World Cup on the grounds that 10% of the country is within geographic Europe, that is, to the west of the Ural Mountains.
It was hoped the better quality of competition in Europe would improve the national and club teams. The move also gave access to lucrative Champions League and Uefa Cup competitions.
Unfortunately, the national team and club sides have performed consistently poorly. They are ranked a lowly 119th in the world Fifa rankings. Jonathan Ridgeway, Liverpool. KAZAKHSTAN is partly in Europe because the Ural River, the dividing line between the two continents, runs through the city of Atyrau.
I lived on the western side of the river and my office was on the eastern side – so I used to walk from Europe to Asia! There are signs on each end of the bridge for Europe and Asia.
John Symon, Lowestoft, Suffolk. QUESTION Did an Indian prince take a team of polo ponies to fight in World War I? MY former father-in-law MajorGeneral His Highness Sir Sajjan Singh Bahadur, Maharaja of Ratlam State, KCSI, KCVO, GCIE, was knighted for valour and gallantry in World War I. A worldfamous polo player, he volunteered with the Central India Horse Brigade to show loyalty to his king and emperor.
He took his polo team and pampered ponies to the front line in France where they galloped from mud-filled trench to trench carrying battle orders when the handcranked telephones didn’t work.
The nimble ponies were accus- tomed to making rapid turns in polo chukkas.
He was presented to Britain’s royal family at Windsor, was made an honorary aide-de-camp to George VI and rode in the carriage preceding the Coronation coach in 1937. The then Prince of Wales often visited Ratlam, enjoying the hospitality, tennis matches, polo and tiger shoots arranged by the Maharaja. His Highness Sajjan Singh was so highly regarded that the Viceroy of India appointed him regent to the state of Rewar in 1918 when the Maharaja became seriously ill.
I married his younger son, Prince Ranbir Singh Rathore.
Our daughter, Princess Lakshmi Kumari, married a German and her son is the heir to Ratlam State – a direct bloodline to his illustrious and gallant great-grandfather, a true Rajput princely warrior who galloped to the aid of his king. Mrs Elisabeth Eaton-Cooper, formerly Princess Elisabeth Ranbirsingh Rathore (Kuvrani
Sahiba of Ratlam), Eastbourne, East Sussex. QUESTION One of Marie Antoinette’s necklaces was recently auctioned for $32million. What happened to the rest of her gems and the crown jewels after the French Revolution? FURTHER to the previous answer, the French crown jewels comprise the crowns, orb, sceptres, diadems and jewels that were symbols of royal power. The set was broken up and sold in 1885 by the French Third Republic.
The surviving crowns, diadems and parures – matching jewellery designed to be worn at the same time – are on display in the Galerie d’Apollon of the Louvre. Many of the other gems were sold and replaced with glass copies. Frank Laver, Huntingdon.
OIS THERE a question to which you have always wanted to know the answer? Or do you know the answer to a question raised here? Send your questions and answers to: Charles Legge, Answers To Correspondents, Irish Daily Mail, Embassy House, Herbert Park Lane, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4. You can also fax them to 0044 1952 510906 or you can email them to charles.legge@dailymail.ie. A selection will be published but we are not able to enter into individual correspondence.