Fastest Flying Insect by Short-Burst Airspeed

Dragonflies have two independently controlled pairs of wings that allow hovering, manoeuvring and rapid short bursts. Austrophlebia costalis is a large Australian dragonfly associated with high historical flight-speed reports.

Guinness distinguishes airspeed from ground speed: an old observation in 1917 measured 98.6 km/h across 73–82 metres, but that was ground velocity, potentially influenced by wind. Its stated short-burst maximum airspeed is 58 km/h, while 39 km/h pertains to maximum maintainable insect airspeed in acceptable modern experiments.

An earlier candidate mistakenly attributed 14.9 m/s sustained horizontal speed to Manduca sexta. The actual 1995 chamber study measured only 5.3 m/s at maximum, with 7–10 m/s proposed as a possible allometric extrapolation, so those figures are not evidence of a fastest-insect record.