Copiphora rhinoceros
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~60%
Copiphora rhinoceros, the rhinoceros katydid, is a relatively large, up to about 7.5 cm (3 in) long, species of katydid found in Central America. It belongs to a group known as the conehead katydids, several of which have a horn-like projection on the top of the head. The horn of the rhinoceros katydid is used to ward off attacks from hungry bats. Unlike most katydids, which are herbivores, the rhinoceros katydid is an omnivore, feeding on fruit, seeds, flowers, invertebrates, frog eggs and small lizards. The species can be quite noisy during the night and produces one of the dominant sounds in Central American lowland forests. Its lifespan is one to two years.
It was first described in 1888 by Alphonse Pictet in his Locustides Nouveaux ou peu connus de Musée de Genève (New or Little-known Locusts of the Geneva Museum). Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tortuguero National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 2 | Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 3 | Tenorio Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 4 | Braulio Carrillo National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 5 | Arenal Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 6 | Chirripó National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 7 | Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 8 | Cahuita National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 9 | Tapantí-Macizo de la Muerte National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Rhinoceros Katydid sighting in Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge on a given day, based on 8 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 33rd most-seen of the 72 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 60%, if each day is a fresh chance.
February
In that month about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Rhinoceros Katydid in Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge on a given day, against under 5% in May–July and September–January, the lowest months. That is one of Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge's driest months, with about 160 mm of rain against 560 mm in July.
Between 6 and 9 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Rhinoceros Katydid sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 pm and 6 am: it is mostly seen at night.
7th of 9
Of the 9 parks where we can rate Rhinoceros Katydid sightings, Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge ranks 7th at about 10%. The best odds are in Tortuguero National Park (Costa Rica, about 30%), Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve (Costa Rica, about 30%) and Tenorio Volcano National Park (Costa Rica, about 30%).
Same family: Tettigoniidae
The closest relatives of the Rhinoceros Katydid that you can see in Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge (family Tettigoniidae, Katydids) are Ischnomela pulchripennis (about 40%), Philophyllia ingens (about 20%) and Balboana tibialis (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Rhinoceros Katydid is recorded against all the insects logged in Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge (8 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.
