Austrothemis nigrescens
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
Austrothemis is a genus of dragonflies in the family Libellulidae, endemic to southern Australia. The single known species, Austrothemis nigrescens, is commonly known as the swamp flat-tail. It is endemic to southern Australia, where it inhabits lakes and swamps. It is a small dragonfly; the male has a flattened abdomen with black and red markings, and the female has black and yellow markings.
The genus name Austrothemis combines the prefix austro- (from Latin auster, meaning “south wind”, hence “southern”) with -themis, from the Greek Θέμις (Themis), the goddess of divine law, order and justice. In early odonate taxonomy, names ending in -themis were introduced by Hagen and were widely used for dragonflies in the family Libellulidae.
The species name nigrescens is derived from the Latin nigresco ("to become black"), referring to the dark colouring of much of the thorax and the markings on the abdomen. List of Odonata species of Australia Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Perth | 🇦🇺 Australia |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Swamp Flat-Tail sighting in Perth on a given day, based on 9 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 175th most-seen of the 275 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.
June and September–November
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Swamp Flat-Tail in Perth on a given day, against under 5% in July–August and December–May, the lowest months.
Only Perth, in our data
Perth is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Swamp Flat-Tail sightings: under 5% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same family: Libellulidae
The closest relatives of the Swamp Flat-Tail that you can see in Perth (family Libellulidae, Skimmers) are Blue Skimmer (about 20%), Wandering Percher (about 20%) and Scarlet Percher (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Swamp Flat-Tail is recorded against all the insects logged in Perth (9 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.
