Mecistogaster ornata
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%
Mecistogaster ornata, the lemon-tipped helicopter, or ornate helicopter, is a species of narrow-winged damselfly in the family Coenagrionidae. It is found in Central America and South America. The IUCN conservation status of Mecistogaster ornata is "LC", least concern, with no immediate threat to the species' survival. The IUCN status was reviewed in 2009. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rincón de la Vieja National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 2 | Carara National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 3 | Manuel Antonio National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 4 | Corcovado National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 5 | Lago de Yojoa | 🇭🇳 Honduras | |
| 6 | Soberanía National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 7 | Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 8 | Parque Natural Metropolitano | 🇵🇦 Panama |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Lemon-Tipped Helicopter sighting in Carara National Park on a given day, based on 18 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 14th most-seen of the 83 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 70%, if each day is a fresh chance.
October and December
In those months about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Lemon-Tipped Helicopter in Carara National Park on a given day, against under 5% in May to September, the lowest months.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Lemon-Tipped Helicopter sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
2nd of 8
Of the 8 parks where we can rate Lemon-Tipped Helicopter sightings, Carara National Park ranks 2nd at about 10%. The best odds are in Rincón de la Vieja National Park (Costa Rica, about 30%).
Same family: Coenagrionidae
The closest relatives of the Lemon-Tipped Helicopter that you can see in Carara National Park (family Coenagrionidae, Narrow-winged Damselflies) are Oculate Dancer (about 20%), Megaloprepus diaboli (about 10%) and Swamp Dancer (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Lemon-Tipped Helicopter is recorded against all the insects logged in Carara National Park (18 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.
