Anax papuensis
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
The Australian emperor dragonfly, also known as the yellow emperor dragonfly, the Baron Dragonfly in New Zealand, scientific name Anax papuensis, is a species of dragonfly in the Aeshnidae family. It is black with yellow dots along its tail.
The Australian emperor is a very large dragonfly, up to 70 mm long. Its abdomen is marked boldly in black and yellow. The thorax is greenish-grey. The head is yellow with a T-shaped mark on the forehead (frons). The eyes are yellow-green. The leading edges of the wings are yellow. The insect habitually hunts fairly slowly, patrolling up and down like other hawkers, with short bursts at high speed.
Their wingspan is 11 centimetres (4.3 in). Males and females are similar. The Australian emperor is found throughout Australia. In the state of Victoria, it has a split distribution: below about 600 metres in altitude, and above about 1200 metres, apparently because it avoids forested areas. It is also found in New Zealand, New Guinea, the Cocos-Keeling Islands, Java, Sumba and New Caledonia.
The Australian emperor is widespread and common on larger bodies of water with tall vegetation on the banks. Like... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hattah-Kulkyne National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 2 | Grampians National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 3 | Ningaloo Marine Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 4 | Great Otway National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 5 | Lamington National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 6 | Blue Mountains National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 7 | Royal National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 8 | Springbrook National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report an Australian Emperor sighting in Blue Mountains National Park on a given day, based on 19 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 225th most-seen of the 789 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
February–March, September and November–December
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report an Australian Emperor in Blue Mountains National Park on a given day, against under 5% in January, April–August and October, the lowest months.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Australian Emperor sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
6th of 8
Of the 8 parks where we can rate Australian Emperor sightings, Blue Mountains National Park ranks 6th at about 10%. The best odds are in Hattah-Kulkyne National Park (Australia, about 20%), Grampians National Park (Australia, about 10%) and Ningaloo Marine Park (Australia, about 10%).
Same family: Aeshnidae
The closest relatives of the Australian Emperor that you can see in Blue Mountains National Park (family Aeshnidae, Darners) are Sydney Mountain Darner (about 20%), Eastern Evening Darner (about 10%) and Blue-Spotted Hawker (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Australian Emperor is recorded against all the insects logged in Blue Mountains National Park (19 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.
