Pterochroza ocellata
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~60%
Pterochroza ocellata, the peacock katydid, is an insect in the family Tettigoniidae from the Amazon rainforest in South America. It is the only species in the genus Pterochroza. The species is a leaf-mimic katydid; when it is in repose its camouflage resembles a diseased or dead leaf. The katydid owes both its common name and its specific epithet (ocellata, meaning "marked with little eyes") to its startle display, in which it shows false eye spots on its normally hidden hind wings.
The adult Pterochroza ocellata is about 45mm to 65mm in length. In its protective camouflage it resembles a dried leaf. If in spite of its camouflage it is threatened, the katydid exposes its hind wings, displaying two conspicuous eye spots.
No two individual Pterochroza ocellata are identical in their color pattern or the shape of the wings; this reduces the risk that predators could learn to recognize a fixed visual pattern. As in all katydids, their organs of hearing, or tympana, are on their front legs just below the joint between the femur and the tibia. The antennae are long, even for Tettigoniidae, being two to three times the length of the body.
Pterochroza ocellata... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve | 🇪🇨 Ecuador | |
| 2 | Manu National Park | 🇵🇪 Peru | |
| 3 | Yasuní National Park | 🇪🇨 Ecuador | |
| 4 | Tambopata National Reserve | 🇵🇪 Peru |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Pterochroza ocellata sighting in Yasuní National Park on a given day, based on 15 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 43rd most-seen of the 203 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 60%, if each day is a fresh chance.
February, June and September–November
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Pterochroza ocellata in Yasuní National Park on a given day, against under 5% in April, July–August and December–January, the lowest months.
Between 7 and 10 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Pterochroza ocellata sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 pm and 6 am: it is mostly seen at night.
3rd of 4
Of the 4 parks where we can rate Pterochroza ocellata sightings, Yasuní National Park ranks 3rd at about 10%. The best odds are in Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve (Ecuador, about 30%) and Manu National Park (Peru, about 20%).
Same family: Tettigoniidae
The closest relatives of the Pterochroza ocellata that you can see in Yasuní National Park (family Tettigoniidae, Katydids) are Panoploscelis specularis (about 20%), Spiny Devil Katydid (about 20%) and Typophyllum mortuifolium (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Pterochroza ocellata is recorded against all the insects logged in Yasuní National Park (15 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.
