Two-Striped Skimmer

Two-Striped Skimmer

Orthetrum caffrum

Daily sighting probability <5% · Rare
at Table Mountain National Park

In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%

11 Verified sightings at Table Mountain National Park From 2019 to 2026
31 In all 3 parks
November Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Two-Striped Skimmer

Orthetrum caffrum, the two-striped skimmer or white-lined skimmer, is a species of dragonfly in the family Libellulidae. It is found in Angola, Cameroon, Chad, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, Guinea, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, possibly Burundi, and possibly Gambia. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical moist montane forests, subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland, rivers, shrub-dominated wetlands, freshwater springs, and Alpine wetlands. Wikipedia →

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Addo Elephant National Park 🇿🇦 South Africa
~10%
2 Garden Route National Park 🇿🇦 South Africa
<5%
3 Table Mountain National Park 🇿🇦 South Africa
<5%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Johannesburg 🇿🇦 South Africa
~10%
2 Pretoria 🇿🇦 South Africa
~10%
3 Cape Town 🇿🇦 South Africa
<5%

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Two-Striped Skimmer in Table Mountain National Park?

Rare

Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Two-Striped Skimmer sighting in Table Mountain National Park on a given day, based on 11 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 219th most-seen of the 344 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Two-Striped Skimmer in Table Mountain National Park?

November

In that month about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Two-Striped Skimmer in Table Mountain National Park on a given day, against under 5% in December to October, the lowest months. That is one of Table Mountain National Park's driest months, with about 25 mm of rain against 110 mm in June.

What time of day is best to see a Two-Striped Skimmer?

Between 10 am and 1 pm

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Two-Striped Skimmer sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.

Is Table Mountain National Park the best place to see a Two-Striped Skimmer?

3rd of 3

Of the 3 parks where we can rate Two-Striped Skimmer sightings, Table Mountain National Park ranks 3rd at under 5%. The best odds are in Addo Elephant National Park (South Africa, about 10%) and Garden Route National Park (South Africa, under 5%).

Where does the Two-Striped Skimmer sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Two-Striped Skimmer is recorded against all the insects logged in Table Mountain National Park (11 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.

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