Rhyothemis semihyalina
In 3 days ~70% in a week >90%
Rhyothemis semihyalina, the Phantom Flutterer, is a species of dragonfly in the family Libellulidae. It is found in Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Réunion, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and possibly Burundi. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical seasonally wet or flooded lowland grassland, rivers, intermittent rivers, shrub-dominated wetlands, swamps, freshwater lakes, intermittent freshwater lakes, freshwater marshes, and intermittent freshwater marshes.
Phantom flutterer Species text in the Online Atlas of South African Odonata Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ankarafantsika National Park | 🇲🇬 Madagascar | |
| 2 | Kafue National Park | 🇿🇲 Zambia | |
| 3 | uMkhuze Game Reserve | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 4 | iSimangaliso Wetland Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 5 | Moremi Game Reserve | 🇧🇼 Botswana | |
| 6 | Kruger National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
Likely
About 40% of wildlife watchers report a Phantom Flutterer sighting in Ankarafantsika National Park on a given day, based on 7 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 12th most-seen of the 31 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 70%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
September
In that month about 50% of wildlife watchers report a Phantom Flutterer in Ankarafantsika National Park on a given day, against about 10% in April–August and December–January, the lowest months. That is one of Ankarafantsika National Park's driest months, with almost no rain against 560 mm in January. February and March have too few records to rate.
Between 1 and 4 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Phantom Flutterer sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Yes
Of the 6 parks where we can rate Phantom Flutterer sightings, Ankarafantsika National Park has the highest daily chance: about 40%. Next come Kafue National Park (Zambia, about 20%) and uMkhuze Game Reserve (South Africa, about 20%).
Same family: Libellulidae
The closest relatives of the Phantom Flutterer that you can see in Ankarafantsika National Park (family Libellulidae, Skimmers) are Southern Banded Groundling (about 50%), Twister (about 50%) and Bold Skimmer (about 40%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Phantom Flutterer is recorded against all the insects logged in Ankarafantsika National Park (7 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
