Rhyothemis semihyalina
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
Rhyothemis semihyalina, the Phantom Flutterer, is a species of dragonfly in the family Libellulidae. It is found in Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Réunion, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and possibly Burundi. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical seasonally wet or flooded lowland grassland, rivers, intermittent rivers, shrub-dominated wetlands, swamps, freshwater lakes, intermittent freshwater lakes, freshwater marshes, and intermittent freshwater marshes.
Phantom flutterer Species text in the Online Atlas of South African Odonata Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ankarafantsika National Park | 🇲🇬 Madagascar | |
| 2 | Kafue National Park | 🇿🇲 Zambia | |
| 3 | uMkhuze Game Reserve | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 4 | iSimangaliso Wetland Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 5 | Moremi Game Reserve | 🇧🇼 Botswana | |
| 6 | Kruger National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Phantom Flutterer sighting in Durban on a given day, based on 6 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 310th most-seen of the 401 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January–March and October
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Phantom Flutterer in Durban on a given day, against under 5% in April–September and November–December, the lowest months. Those are among Durban's wettest months, with about 170 mm of rain a month against 25 mm in June.
Between 1 and 4 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Phantom Flutterer sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
2nd of 2
Of the 2 cities where we can rate Phantom Flutterer sightings, Durban ranks 2nd at under 5%. The best odds are in Lusaka (Zambia, about 10%).
Same family: Libellulidae
The closest relatives of the Phantom Flutterer that you can see in Durban (family Libellulidae, Skimmers) are Julia Skimmer (about 30%), Lucia Widow (about 20%) and Red-Veined Dropwing (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Phantom Flutterer is recorded against all the insects logged in Durban (6 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.
