Sympetrum fonscolombii
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~60%
The red-veined darter or nomad (Sympetrum fonscolombii) is a dragonfly in the genus Sympetrum. There is genetic and behavioural evidence that S. fonscolombii is not closely related to the other members of the genus Sympetrum and it will at some time in the future be removed from this genus.
Sympetrum fonscolombii was named under the protonym Libellula fonscolombii by the Belgian entomologist Edmond de Sélys Longchamps in 1840, in honour of the French entomologist Étienne de Fonscolombe, whence the species name. Its name is sometimes cited as fonscolombei instead of fonscolombii, but Askew (2004) gives the latter as the correct spelling.
Sympetrum fonscolombii is a widespread and common species in much of central and southern Europe including most Mediterranean islands, North Africa, the Middle East, Mongolia, south-western Asia, including the Indian subcontinent, the Indian Ocean Islands and Sri Lanka. In Europe it is resident in the south of its range but in some years it migrates northward. From the 1990s onwards, it has increasingly been found in northwest Europe, including Belgium, Sweden, Finland, Poland, Great Britain, and Ireland... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Doñana National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 2 | Camargue | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 3 | Mercantour National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 4 | De Hoop Nature Reserve | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 5 | Garden Route National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 6 | Table Mountain National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 7 | Monfragüe National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 8 | Cévennes National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 9 | Addo Elephant National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 10 | Sierra Nevada National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 11 | Sierra de Guadarrama National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 12 | Pyrénées National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 13 | Bavarian Forest National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 14 | Wadden Sea National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Nomad sighting in Table Mountain National Park on a given day, based on 175 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 28th most-seen of the 344 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.
September and November–December
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Nomad in Table Mountain National Park on a given day, against under 5% in March and June, the lowest months.
Between 11 am and 2 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Nomad sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
6th of 14
Of the 14 parks where we can rate Nomad sightings, Table Mountain National Park ranks 6th at about 10%. The best odds are in Doñana National Park (Spain, about 40%), Camargue (France, about 30%) and Mercantour National Park (France, about 20%).
Same family: Libellulidae
The closest relatives of the Nomad that you can see in Table Mountain National Park (family Libellulidae, Skimmers) are Julia Skimmer (about 20%), Red-Veined Dropwing (about 10%) and Broad Scarlet (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Nomad is recorded against all the insects logged in Table Mountain National Park (175 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.
