Tholymis tillarga
In 3 days ~60% in a week ~90%
Tholymis tillarga, the coral-tailed cloudwing, is a species of dragonfly in the family Libellulidae. It is found from tropical West Africa to Asia, Australia and the Pacific Islands. Common names include old world twister, evening skimmer, crepuscular darter, foggy-winged twister, and twister.
It is a medium sized dragonfly with reddish eyes, yellowish red thorax and coral red abdomen. Its wings are transparent; but hind wings have a golden-brown patch in the base, bordered by a cloudy-white patch. Female is brown and lacks the cloudy-white patch in the hind-wings.
It is a migrant with a permanent presence in humid parts of the tropics. It breeds in standing water-bodies; and prefers weedy ponds, swamps and lakes. They are active at dusk and dawn, as well as during cloudy days. The genus name Tholymis is possibly derived from the Greek θώραξ (thōrax, "thorax" or "chest") and λυγαῖος (lygaios, "shadowy" or "murky"), together with the common dragonfly suffix -themis. The name may refer to the dark-coloured thorax of males of Tholymis citrina.
The derivation of the species name tillarga is unknown. List of odonates... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ankarafantsika National Park | 🇲🇬 Madagascar | |
| 2 | Khao Sok National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 3 | Khao Yai National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 4 | Daintree National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 5 | Chobe National Park | 🇧🇼 Botswana | |
| 6 | iSimangaliso Wetland Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yogyakarta | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 2 | Kochi | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 3 | Ouagadougou | 🇧🇫 Burkina Faso | |
| 4 | Vadodara | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 5 | Thiruvananthapuram | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 6 | Salem | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 7 | Kollam | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 8 | Thrissur | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 9 | Davao City | 🇵🇭 Philippines | |
| 10 | Lagos | 🇳🇬 Nigeria |
Possible
About 30% of wildlife watchers report a Twister sighting in Kochi on a given day, based on 238 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 12th most-seen of the 428 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 60%, and over a week to about 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January–May, July and October
In those months about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Twister in Kochi on a given day, against about 20% in June, August–September and November–December, the lowest months.
Between 2 and 5 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Twister sightings with a recorded time, and about 6 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is seen both by day and at night.
Among the best
Of the 37 cities where we can rate Twister sightings, Kochi ranks 2nd at about 30%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Yogyakarta (Indonesia, about 30%).
Same family: Libellulidae
The closest relatives of the Twister that you can see in Kochi (family Libellulidae, Skimmers) are Pied Paddy Skimmer (about 40%), Oriental Blue Dasher (about 30%) and Common Picture Wing (about 30%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Twister is recorded against all the insects logged in Kochi (238 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.
