Copiphora rhinoceros
In 3 days ~70% in a week ~90%
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 |
Possible
About 30% of wildlife watchers report a Rhinoceros Katydid sighting in Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve on a given day, based on 196 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 5th most-seen of the 506 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 70%, and over a week to about 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
December to February
In those months about 40% of wildlife watchers report a Rhinoceros Katydid in Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve on a given day, against about 10% in May, the lowest month. Those are among Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve's driest months, with about 100 mm of rain a month against 510 mm in October.
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.
Among the best
Of the 9 parks where we can rate Rhinoceros Katydid sightings, Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve ranks 2nd at about 30%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Tortuguero National Park (Costa Rica, about 30%).
Same family: Tettigoniidae
The closest relatives of the Rhinoceros Katydid that you can see in Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve (family Tettigoniidae, Katydids) are Melanonotus powellorum (about 20%), Mimetica incisa (about 20%) and Moncheca elegans (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 Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve (196 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.
