Austrolestes cingulatus
In 3 days ~60% in a week ~90%
The metallic ringtail (Austrolestes cingulatus) is an Australian damselfly in the family Lestidae, It is widely distributed in Tasmania, Victoria and eastern New South Wales. It is a thin, medium-sized damselfly with a green and gold or bluish green and gold coloration. Each abdominal segment is marked by a pale "ring"; this, combined with its glossy metallic coloration, give it its common name of metallic ringtail.
It is active through October to March in still-water bodies such as rivers, lakes, ponds, swamps, and alpine bogs, being usually found amongst vegetation. The genus name Austrolestes combines the prefix austro- (from Latin auster, meaning “south wind”, hence “southern”) with Lestes, a genus name derived from Greek λῃστής (lēstēs, “robber”).
The species name cingulatus is derived from the Latin cingulum ("girdle" or "sword-belt") and the suffix -atus ("provided with"), referring to rings at the bases of the abdominal segments. List of Odonata species of Australia Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kosciuszko National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia |
More parks will be added in future updates.
Possible
About 30% of wildlife watchers report a Metallic Ringtail sighting in Kosciuszko National Park on a given day, based on 43 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 11th most-seen of the 105 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 60%, and over a week to about 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January and February
In those months about 40% of wildlife watchers report a Metallic Ringtail in Kosciuszko National Park on a given day, against under 5% in March to September, the lowest months.
Between 1 and 4 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Metallic Ringtail 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 Kosciuszko National Park, in our data
Kosciuszko National Park is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Metallic Ringtail sightings: about 30% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same order: Odonata
The closest relatives of the Metallic Ringtail that you can see in Kosciuszko National Park (order Odonata, Dragonflies and Damselflies) are Swamp Tigertail (about 30%), Southern Tigertail (about 20%) and Yellow-Striped Hunter (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Metallic Ringtail is recorded against all the insects logged in Kosciuszko National Park (43 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.
