Crocothemis sanguinolenta
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
Crocothemis sanguinolenta is a species of dragonfly in the family Libellulidae. It is found in Africa south of the Sahara (including Madagascar), in the Levant, and in the south of the Arabian Peninsula. It is found in or near fresh water in a wide variety of habitats, from semi-arid bush to tropical forest.
Common names for this species include little scarlet, slim scarlet-darter and small scarlet. Over most of its range, Crocothemis sanguinolenta is easily confused with Crocothemis erythraea, but C. sanguinolenta has a narrower abdomen (3 mm or less wide), the lateral carinae of S3 to S7 are usually marked with black dashes, and the pterostigmata are short and usually the same colour as the abdomen (red in mature males). The abdomen of Crocothemis erythraea is 3.5 mm or more wide, the lateral carinae of S3 to S7 are generally unmarked, and the pterostigmata are longer and less brightly coloured than the abdomen.
Little scarlet Species text in the Online Atlas of South African Odonata Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Waterberg Plateau Park | 🇳🇦 Namibia | |
| 2 | De Hoop Nature Reserve | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 3 | Garden Route National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 4 | Table Mountain National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 5 | Kruger National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pretoria | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Little Scarlet sighting in Pretoria on a given day, based on 5 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 225th most-seen of the 274 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.
April to June
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Little Scarlet in Pretoria on a given day, against under 5% in July to March, the lowest months. Those are among Pretoria's driest months, with about 20 mm of rain a month against 130 mm in December.
Between 11 am and 2 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Little Scarlet sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Pretoria, in our data
Pretoria is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Little Scarlet sightings: under 5% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Little Scarlet is recorded against all the insects logged in Pretoria (5 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.
