Platycypha fitzsimonsi
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
Platycypha fitzsimonsi, the boulder jewel or Fitzsimon's jewel is a species of damselfly in the family Chlorocyphidae. It is endemic to South Africa where its natural habitats include wooded and forested streams and rivers.
This is a fairly small species; 29–34 mm long with a wingspan of 46–54 mm. The mature male has an orange-red and black striped thorax and a distinctive red, black and blue abdomen. Females and immature males are dark brown and khaki.
Like several other Chlocyphidae, males extend and vibrate their tibia displaying the white colouration (foot waggling) towards ovipositing females as a courtship display. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Garden Route National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
More parks will be added in future updates.
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Boulder Jewel sighting in Garden Route National Park on a given day, based on 7 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 210th most-seen of the 298 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.
March and October–January
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Boulder Jewel in Garden Route National Park on a given day, against under 5% in February and April–September, the lowest months.
Between 11 am and 2 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Boulder Jewel sightings with a recorded time, and about 6 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is seen both by day and at night.
Only Garden Route National Park, in our data
Garden Route National Park is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Boulder Jewel sightings: under 5% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same order: Odonata
The closest relatives of the Boulder Jewel that you can see in Garden Route National Park (order Odonata, Dragonflies and Damselflies) are Julia Skimmer (about 30%), Common Bluetail (about 30%) and Red-Veined Dropwing (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Boulder Jewel is recorded against all the insects logged in Garden Route National Park (7 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.
