Ceratogomphus pictus
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
Ceratogomphus pictus, the common thorntail, is a species of dragonfly in the family Gomphidae. It is found in Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zimbabwe and possibly the Democratic Republic of Congo (one isolated record from Katanga). Its natural habitats are the edges of large pools and slow-flowing streams.
This dragonfly is 46–53 mm long, with a wingspan of 60–69 mm. The face is yellow with black bands and the eyes are greyish blue. The synthorax has broad grey and greenish-yellow stripes bordered by thin black lines. Segments 1-7 of the abdomen have broken black and yellow rings, and segment 8 has large yellow foliations with black edges. Segment 10 has a sharp, forward-pointing spine that extends over the top of segment 9. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Garden Route National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
More parks will be added in future updates.
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Common Thorntail sighting in Garden Route National Park on a given day, based on 24 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 108th most-seen of the 298 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.
December
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Common Thorntail in Garden Route National Park on a given day, against under 5% in April to October, the lowest months.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Common Thorntail sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
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 Common Thorntail sightings: about 10% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Common Thorntail is recorded against all the insects logged in Garden Route National Park (24 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.
