Tholymis tillarga
In 3 days ~80% in a week >90%
Tholymis tillarga, the coral-tailed cloudwing, is a species of dragonfly in the family Libellulidae. It is found from tropical West Africa to Asia, Australia and the Pacific Islands. Common names include old world twister, evening skimmer, crepuscular darter, foggy-winged twister, and twister.
It is a medium sized dragonfly with reddish eyes, yellowish red thorax and coral red abdomen. Its wings are transparent; but hind wings have a golden-brown patch in the base, bordered by a cloudy-white patch. Female is brown and lacks the cloudy-white patch in the hind-wings.
It is a migrant with a permanent presence in humid parts of the tropics. It breeds in standing water-bodies; and prefers weedy ponds, swamps and lakes. They are active at dusk and dawn, as well as during cloudy days. The genus name Tholymis is possibly derived from the Greek θώραξ (thōrax, "thorax" or "chest") and λυγαῖος (lygaios, "shadowy" or "murky"), together with the common dragonfly suffix -themis. The name may refer to the dark-coloured thorax of males of Tholymis citrina.
The derivation of the species name tillarga is unknown. List of odonates... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ankarafantsika National Park | 🇲🇬 Madagascar | |
| 2 | Khao Sok National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 3 | Khao Yai National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 4 | Daintree National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 5 | Chobe National Park | 🇧🇼 Botswana | |
| 6 | iSimangaliso Wetland Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yogyakarta | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 2 | Kochi | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 3 | Ouagadougou | 🇧🇫 Burkina Faso | |
| 4 | Vadodara | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 5 | Thiruvananthapuram | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 6 | Salem | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 7 | Kollam | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 8 | Thrissur | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 9 | Davao City | 🇵🇭 Philippines | |
| 10 | Lagos | 🇳🇬 Nigeria |
Likely
About 50% of wildlife watchers report a Twister sighting in Ankarafantsika National Park on a given day, based on 15 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 5th most-seen of the 31 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 80%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April
In that month about 80% of wildlife watchers report a Twister in Ankarafantsika National Park on a given day, against about 10% in January and June–July, the lowest months. That is one of Ankarafantsika National Park's driest months, with about 55 mm of rain against 560 mm in January. February and March have too few records to rate.
Between 2 and 5 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Twister sightings with a recorded time, and about 6 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is seen both by day and at night.
Yes
Of the 6 parks where we can rate Twister sightings, Ankarafantsika National Park has the highest daily chance: about 50%. Next come Khao Sok National Park (Thailand, about 10%) and Khao Yai National Park (Thailand, about 10%).
Same family: Libellulidae
The closest relatives of the Twister that you can see in Ankarafantsika National Park (family Libellulidae, Skimmers) are Southern Banded Groundling (about 50%), Bold Skimmer (about 40%) and Black-Splashed Elf (about 40%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Twister is recorded against all the insects logged in Ankarafantsika National Park (15 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.
