Allocnemis leucosticta
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~50%
Allocnemis leucosticta, the goldtail or goudstertjie, is a species of damselfly in the family Platycnemididae. It is endemic to South Africa and Eswatini, where it lives near streams and rivers in wooded areas. This is a highly distinctive medium-sized (50 mm (2.0 in) wingspan) damselfly, easily told apart from other species in the region. It has a blue face which extends down below the eyes. The dark abdomen is long and slender with narrow white bands at each segment. The wings are a smoky yellow-brown with diagnostic white Pterostigmata, forming a wide wing spot near the tip. The white pterostigmata and yellowish wings are conspicuous in flight, making them easy to identify. Males and females look remarkably similar, with only the tip of the thorax differing. In males this is gold, while in females this may be gold, pale blue or white.
Goldtails are mainly found in the mid to high altitude escarpment areas of South Africa and Eswatini. It is also, however, found at sea level in some places in KwaZulu-Natal and the Southern Cape. Its range extends from Table Mountain in the Western Cape to the Soutpansberg in Limpopo. It is common but... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Golden Gate Highlands National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 2 | Garden Route National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Durban | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Goldtail sighting in Durban on a given day, based on 54 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 42nd most-seen of the 401 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
October and November
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Goldtail in Durban on a given day, against under 5% in March and July, the lowest months. Those are among Durban's wettest months, with about 180 mm of rain a month against 25 mm in June.
Between 11 am and 2 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Goldtail sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Durban, in our data
Durban is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Goldtail sightings: about 10% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Goldtail is recorded against all the insects logged in Durban (54 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.
