Orthetrum julia
In 3 days ~50% in a week ~80%
Orthetrum julia, the Julia skimmer, is a species of dragonfly in the family Libellulidae. It is found in Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, São Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, possibly Burundi, and possibly Madagascar.
Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, rivers, and freshwater springs. Orthetrum stemmale appears similar to O. julia falsum in south-eastern Africa. The important differences are in wing details shown in the figure (left). O. julia falsum (top) has dark subcostal Ax and has one row of cells in the radial planate (generally less than 10 cells doubled - summed over the radial planates of the four wings). This example shows a single doubled cell on each wing. O. stemmale (bottom) has pale subcostal Ax and usually at least ten cells doubled in total over the four wings - this example... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Waterberg Plateau Park | 🇳🇦 Namibia | |
| 2 | Garden Route National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 3 | Table Mountain National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 4 | De Hoop Nature Reserve | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 5 | iSimangaliso Wetland Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 6 | uMkhuze Game Reserve | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 7 | Kruger National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 8 | Addo Elephant National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Durban | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 2 | Cape Town | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 3 | Pretoria | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 4 | Johannesburg | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Julia Skimmer sighting in Cape Town on a given day, based on 379 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 7th most-seen of the 311 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 50%, and over a week to about 80%, if each day is a fresh chance.
December to March
In those months about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Julia Skimmer in Cape Town on a given day, against under 5% in July and August, the lowest months. Those are among Cape Town's driest months, with about 20 mm of rain a month against 140 mm in June.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Julia Skimmer sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
2nd of 4
Of the 4 cities where we can rate Julia Skimmer sightings, Cape Town ranks 2nd at about 20%. The best odds are in Durban (South Africa, about 30%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Julia Skimmer is recorded against all the insects logged in Cape Town (379 verified sightings), 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.
