Orthetrum brunneum
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
Orthetrum brunneum, the southern skimmer, is a species of 'skimmers' belonging to the family Libellulidae. This 'skimmer' is present in most of Europe and the range extends to Mongolia and North Africa. It occurs in Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, China, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Republic of Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia; Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, and Ukraine.
This species mainly prefers small streams, canals and ditches, with shallow, fast warming water. The adults grow up to 40–45 millimetres (1.6–1.8 in) long. Their dimensions on average are larger than in Orthetrum coerulescens.
The thorax and the abdomen are pale blue in males, yellowish-brown or greyish-brown in females. Young males are... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cévennes National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 2 | Sierra de Guadarrama National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 3 | Pyrénées National Park | 🇫🇷 France |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Southern Skimmer sighting in Vienna on a given day, based on 14 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 760th most-seen of the 1406 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
July
In that month about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Southern Skimmer in Vienna on a given day, against under 5% in August to June, the lowest months. That is one of Vienna's wettest months, with about 90 mm of rain against 40 mm in February.
Between noon and 3 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Southern Skimmer sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
9th of 10
Of the 10 cities where we can rate Southern Skimmer sightings, Vienna ranks 9th at under 5%. The best odds are in Rostov-on-Don (Russia, about 20%), Milan (Italy, about 10%) and Budapest (Hungary, about 10%).
Same genus: Orthetrum
The closest relatives of the Southern Skimmer that you can see in Vienna (genus Orthetrum) are Black-Tailed Skimmer (about 10%) and Keeled Skimmer (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Southern Skimmer is recorded against all the insects logged in Vienna (14 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.
