Aeshna interrupta
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~30%
The variable darner (Aeshna interrupta) is a dragonfly of the family Aeshnidae, native from Alaska through the Northwest Territories to Newfoundland, south to New Hampshire and Michigan in the eastern United States, and to the mountains of New Mexico, Arizona, and California in the west. It's named after the distinctive broken stripes on the sides of the thorax of many male specimens. It lives in many habitats from northern and mountain peatlands to cattail marshes and temporary pools. It is the characteristic species of grassland ponds. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riding Mountain National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 2 | Elk Island National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 3 | Grand Teton National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Yosemite National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Rocky Mountain National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Banff National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Variable Darner sighting in Yosemite National Park on a given day, based on 10 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 124th most-seen of the 227 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
August and September
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Variable Darner in Yosemite National Park on a given day, against under 5% in October to July, the lowest months. Those are among Yosemite National Park's driest months, with about 25 mm of rain a month against 220 mm in January.
Between 1 and 4 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Variable Darner sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
4th of 6
Of the 6 parks where we can rate Variable Darner sightings, Yosemite National Park ranks 4th at about 10%. The best odds are in Riding Mountain National Park (Canada, about 20%), Elk Island National Park (Canada, about 10%) and Grand Teton National Park (United States, about 10%).
Same genus: Aeshna
The closest relatives of the Variable Darner that you can see in Yosemite National Park (genus Aeshna, Hawkers and Typical Darners) are Paddle-Tailed Darner (about 10%) and Shadow Darner (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Variable Darner is recorded against all the insects logged in Yosemite National Park (10 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.
