Pyrrhosoma nymphula
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
The large red damselfly (Pyrrhosoma nymphula) is a species of damselflies belonging to the family Coenagrionidae. It is native to the western Palearctic. This species is a mainly European damselfly, with some populations in Northern Africa and Western Asia.
These damselflies inhabit small ponds, lakes and dikes, and occasionally slow-moving rivers. They tend to avoid fast flowing water. Pyrrhosoma nymphula can reach a body length of 33–36 millimetres (1.3–1.4 in). These large and robust damselflies show black legs and wing spots in both sexes.
Mature males have red eyes and a black thorax with red shoulder stripes in mature specimen, but yellow stripes in immature. In fact ante-humeral stripes change to red with age. Abdomen is red with black small rings and bronze-black bands towards the apex (segments 7-9). Wings are hyaline, with a blackish pterostigma. Mature females occur in three colour forms (typical, fulvipes and melanotum), from mostly black to mostly red, but all have yellow bands around the abdominal segments. Some intermediate forms also exist.
The form typica has more black on its abdominal segments than the form fulvipes... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cairngorms National Park | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 2 | Plitvice Lakes National Park | 🇭🇷 Croatia | |
| 3 | Snowdonia National Park | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 4 | Sierra Nevada National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 5 | Mercantour National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 6 | Aigüestortes National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 7 | Cévennes National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 8 | Bavarian Forest National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 9 | Pyrénées National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 10 | Vanoise National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 11 | Tatra National Park | 🇸🇰 Slovakia | |
| 12 | Sierra de Guadarrama National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 13 | Wadden Sea National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | London | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 2 | Birmingham | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 3 | Leeds | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 4 | Manchester | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 5 | Brussels | 🇧🇪 Belgium | |
| 6 | Essen | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 7 | Hamburg | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 8 | Paris | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 9 | Porto | 🇵🇹 Portugal | |
| 10 | Lyon | 🇫🇷 France |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Large Red Damselfly sighting in Sierra de Guadarrama National Park on a given day, based on 31 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 157th most-seen of the 597 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April to July
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Large Red Damselfly in Sierra de Guadarrama National Park on a given day, against under 5% in August to March, the lowest months.
Between noon and 3 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Large Red Damselfly sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
12th of 13
Of the 13 parks where we can rate Large Red Damselfly sightings, Sierra de Guadarrama National Park ranks 12th at about 10%. The best odds are in Cairngorms National Park (United Kingdom, about 30%), Plitvice Lakes National Park (Croatia, about 30%) and Snowdonia National Park (United Kingdom, about 30%).
Same order: Odonata
The closest relatives of the Large Red Damselfly that you can see in Sierra de Guadarrama National Park (order Odonata, Dragonflies and Damselflies) are Beautiful Demoiselle (about 20%), Common Darter (about 10%) and Golden-Ringed Dragonfly (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Large Red Damselfly is recorded against all the insects logged in Sierra de Guadarrama National Park (31 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.
