Ictinogomphus ferox
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%
Ictinogomphus ferox, commonly called the common tiger or the common tigertail, is a species of dragonfly in the family Gomphidae. It is found in Algeria, Angola, Botswana, Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal, Somalia, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, possibly Burundi, and possibly Ethiopia. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, dry savanna, moist savanna, subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, subtropical or tropical moist shrubland, rivers, intermittent rivers, shrub-dominated wetlands, swamps, freshwater lakes, intermittent freshwater lakes, freshwater marshes, intermittent freshwater marshes, and freshwater springs. In Algeria, it has also been recorded in the Algerian Sahara, in Tassili n'Ajjer National Park.
Common tigertail Species text in the Online Atlas of South African Odonata Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | uMkhuze Game Reserve | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 2 | Liwonde National Park | 🇲🇼 Malawi | |
| 3 | iSimangaliso Wetland Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 4 | Kruger National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Durban | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Tigertail sighting in Kruger National Park on a given day, based on 209 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 24th most-seen of the 748 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 70%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January
In that month about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Tigertail in Kruger National Park on a given day, against under 5% in June to September, the lowest months. That is one of Kruger National Park's wettest months, with about 95 mm of rain against almost none in August.
Between 11 am and 2 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Tigertail sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
4th of 4
Of the 4 parks where we can rate Tigertail sightings, Kruger National Park ranks 4th at about 10%. The best odds are in uMkhuze Game Reserve (South Africa, about 40%), Liwonde National Park (Malawi, about 30%) and iSimangaliso Wetland Park (South Africa, about 20%).
Same family: Gomphidae
The closest relatives of the Tigertail that you can see in Kruger National Park (family Gomphidae, Clubtails) are Common Hooktail (about 10%), Flapper Hooktail (about 10%) and Great Hooktail (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Tigertail is recorded against all the insects logged in Kruger National Park (209 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.
