Common Green Colonel

Common Green Colonel

Oplodontha viridula

Daily sighting probability <5% · Rare
at Wadden Sea National Park

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

6 Verified sightings at Wadden Sea National Park From 2019 to 2026
6 In 1 park
July Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Common Green Colonel

Oplodontha viridula, the common green colonel, is a European species of soldier fly. Body length 6–8 mm. Purple eyes in life with bands and spots. Thorax brilliant black, coarsely punctured and with short dull yellow pubescence. Scutellum entirely black with two yellow spines. Yellowish legs (female). Abdomen whitish, yellow or leaf green with all intermediate ranges; black longitudinal dorsal median band also variable in shape and extent than the background pastel color. The larva is light or dark brownish with different longitudinal stripes or markings: on the dorsal side it has short, depressed hairs, on the ventral side the middle space of the segments have somewhat longish hairs. The length is 16 mm.

The habitat is wetland biotope, such as marshes, meadows with locks, salt marshes and river valleys- in humid places, on herbs, Phragmites, Cnicus Adults are found from the end of April to the beginning of October. Adults feed on pollen and nectar of Achillea millefolium........

Throughout the Palearctic. Wikipedia →

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Wadden Sea National Park 🇩🇪 Germany
<5%

More parks will be added in future updates.

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Warsaw 🇵🇱 Poland
<5%
2 London 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
<5%
3 Moscow 🇷🇺 Russia
<5%

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Common Green Colonel in Wadden Sea National Park?

Rare

Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Common Green Colonel sighting in Wadden Sea National Park on a given day, based on 6 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 630th most-seen of the 818 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 Common Green Colonel in Wadden Sea National Park?

July

In that month about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Common Green Colonel in Wadden Sea National Park on a given day, against under 5% in August to June, the lowest months.

What time of day is best to see a Common Green Colonel?

Between 11 am and 2 pm

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Common Green Colonel sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.

Where else can you see a Common Green Colonel?

Only Wadden Sea National Park, in our data

Wadden Sea National Park is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Common Green Colonel sightings: under 5% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.

Where does the Common Green Colonel sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Common Green Colonel is recorded against all the insects logged in Wadden Sea National Park (6 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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