Erythemis collocata
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
Erythemis collocata, the western pondhawk, is a dragonfly of the family Libellulidae, native to western Canada, the western United States, and Mexico. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Death Valley National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Yellowstone National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Redwood National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Saguaro National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Portland | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Las Vegas | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Seattle | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Phoenix | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Sacramento | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Denver | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Vancouver | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 8 | Mesa | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Salt Lake City | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | San Diego | 🇺🇸 United States |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Western Pondhawk sighting in Sacramento on a given day, based on 41 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 117th most-seen of the 386 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April to August
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Western Pondhawk in Sacramento on a given day, against under 5% in September to March, the lowest months. Those are among Sacramento's driest months, with about 15 mm of rain a month against 120 mm in December.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Western Pondhawk sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 12 cities where we can rate Western Pondhawk sightings, Sacramento ranks 5th at about 10%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Portland (United States, about 10%), Las Vegas (United States, about 10%) and Seattle (United States, about 10%).
Same family: Libellulidae
The closest relatives of the Western Pondhawk that you can see in Sacramento (family Libellulidae, Skimmers) are Flame Skimmer (about 20%), Variegated Meadowhawk (about 20%) and Blue Dasher (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Western Pondhawk is recorded against all the insects logged in Sacramento (41 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.
