Libellula semifasciata
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
Libellula semifasciata, the painted skimmer, is an uncommon eastern North American skimmer dragonfly, found from New Brunswick, Canada as far south as Texas and Florida. It is a medium-sized species, at 43 mm (1.7 in) long. Each wing is amber coloured at the base and wing tip and has several brown spots. The abdomen has a lateral strip that is white anteriorly and yellow posteriorly. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Congaree National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Shenandoah National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Acadia National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New York City | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Philadelphia | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Baltimore | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Boston | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Washington | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Toronto | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 7 | Chicago | 🇺🇸 United States |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Painted Skimmer sighting in New York City on a given day, based on 156 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 171st most-seen of the 1623 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 July
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Painted Skimmer in New York City on a given day, against under 5% in August to April, the lowest months.
Between noon and 3 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Painted Skimmer sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Yes
Of the 7 cities where we can rate Painted Skimmer sightings, New York City has the highest daily chance: under 5%. Next come Philadelphia (United States, under 5%) and Baltimore (United States, under 5%).
Same genus: Libellula
The closest relatives of the Painted Skimmer that you can see in New York City (genus Libellula, Chasers and King Skimmers) are Great Blue Skimmer (about 10%) and Twelve-Spotted Skimmer (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Painted Skimmer is recorded against all the insects logged in New York City (156 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.
