Libellula semifasciata
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
Libellula semifasciata, the painted skimmer, is an uncommon eastern North American skimmer dragonfly, found from New Brunswick, Canada as far south as Texas and Florida. It is a medium-sized species, at 43 mm (1.7 in) long. Each wing is amber coloured at the base and wing tip and has several brown spots. The abdomen has a lateral strip that is white anteriorly and yellow posteriorly. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Congaree National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Shenandoah National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Acadia National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New York City | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Philadelphia | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Baltimore | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Boston | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Washington | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Toronto | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 7 | Chicago | 🇺🇸 United States |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Painted Skimmer sighting in Shenandoah National Park on a given day, based on 5 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 630th most-seen of the 723 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May and July
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Painted Skimmer in Shenandoah National Park on a given day, against under 5% in June and August–April, the lowest months.
Between noon and 3 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Painted Skimmer sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
2nd of 3
Of the 3 parks where we can rate Painted Skimmer sightings, Shenandoah National Park ranks 2nd at under 5%. The best odds are in Congaree National Park (United States, about 10%).
Same genus: Libellula
The closest relatives of the Painted Skimmer that you can see in Shenandoah National Park (genus Libellula, Chasers and King Skimmers) are Widow Skimmer (about 10%) and Slaty Skimmer (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Painted Skimmer is recorded against all the insects logged in Shenandoah National Park (5 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.
