Ischnura posita
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
Ischnura posita, the fragile forktail, is a species of damselfly in the genus Ischnura. It is 21 to 29 millimetres (0.83 to 1.14 in) long. It is native to most all of eastern North America. The shoulder stripes of both sexes resemble exclamation marks. It is one of the more common damselflies on the east coast of the US. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Biotopo Cerro Cahuí | 🇬🇹 Guatemala | |
| 2 | Point Pelee National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 3 | Shenandoah National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Congaree National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Big Cypress National Preserve | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Great Smoky Mountains National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Acadia National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Washington | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Boston | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | New York City | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Houston | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Philadelphia | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Baltimore | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Austin | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Dallas | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Orlando | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Toronto | 🇨🇦 Canada |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Fragile Forktail sighting in Houston on a given day, based on 176 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 111th most-seen of the 1057 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.
January to October
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Fragile Forktail in Houston on a given day, against under 5% in November and December, the lowest months.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Fragile Forktail sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 14 cities where we can rate Fragile Forktail sightings, Houston ranks 4th at about 10%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Washington (United States, about 10%), Boston (United States, about 10%) and New York City (United States, about 10%).
Same genus: Ischnura
The closest relatives of the Fragile Forktail that you can see in Houston (genus Ischnura, Forktails) are Rambur's Forktail (about 10%) and Citrine Forktail (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Fragile Forktail is recorded against all the insects logged in Houston (176 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.
