Sympetrum frequens
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~50%
Sympetrum frequens, the Autumn darter (アキアカネ, akiakane), is a species of dragonfly endemic to Japan. It lives near grasslands and can grow up to 40 mm in length. After emerging, these dragonflies migrate to high mountains where they feed until descending to breeding pools (often temporary or artificial, including rice fields) at lower levels.
Akatombo—beloved Japanese song about this dragonfly ふしぎがわかる しぜん図鑑 こんちゅう (in Japanese). Tokyo, Japan: Froebel-Kan CO., LTD. 1999. p. 36. ISBN 4-577-00033-4. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nikko National Park | 🇯🇵 Japan |
More parks will be added in future updates.
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report an Autumn Darter sighting in Tokyo on a given day, based on 373 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 54th most-seen of the 1013 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
October
In that month about 30% of wildlife watchers report an Autumn Darter in Tokyo on a given day, against under 5% in January–May and August, the lowest months. That is one of Tokyo's wettest months, with about 250 mm of rain against 75 mm in February.
Between 1 and 4 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Autumn Darter sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
4th of 5
Of the 5 cities where we can rate Autumn Darter sightings, Tokyo ranks 4th at about 10%. The best odds are in Sapporo (Japan, about 20%), Nagoya (Japan, about 10%) and Sendai (Japan, about 10%).
Same genus: Sympetrum
The closest relatives of the Autumn Darter that you can see in Tokyo (genus Sympetrum, Meadowhawks) are Four-Tipped Darter (about 10%), Banded Darter (about 10%) and Sympetrum baccha (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Autumn Darter is recorded against all the insects logged in Tokyo (373 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.
