Libellula incesta
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
Libellula incesta, the slaty skimmer, is a dragonfly of the skimmer family, native to eastern United States and southern Ontario, Quebec, and New Brunswick. Adults are 5.28 cm (2.08 in) long. Mature males are dark blue with black heads. Females and juveniles have brown abdomens with a darker stripe down their backs. Adults fly from June to August. Larvae are habitat specialists, found in the benthos of permanent lakes. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Congaree National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Acadia National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Big Cypress National Preserve | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Shenandoah National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Everglades National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Great Smoky Mountains National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Washington | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Austin | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Boston | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Houston | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | New York City | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Baltimore | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Philadelphia | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Orlando | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Miami | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Dallas | 🇺🇸 United States |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Slaty Skimmer sighting in Houston on a given day, based on 90 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 189th most-seen of the 1057 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May to August
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Slaty Skimmer in Houston on a given day, against under 5% in September to April, the lowest months.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Slaty Skimmer sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
4th of 11
Of the 11 cities where we can rate Slaty Skimmer sightings, Houston ranks 4th at under 5%. The best odds are in Washington (United States, about 10%), Austin (United States, about 10%) and Boston (United States, about 10%).
Same genus: Libellula
The closest relatives of the Slaty Skimmer that you can see in Houston (genus Libellula, Chasers and King Skimmers) are Needham's Skimmer (about 10%), Neon Skimmer (about 10%) and Great Blue Skimmer (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Slaty Skimmer is recorded against all the insects logged in Houston (90 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.
