Cyphoderris monstrosa
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
Cyphoderris monstrosa, also known as the great grig, is a species of hump-winged grig in the family Prophalangopsidae. Though the fossil record shows at least 90 extinct species from this family, C. monstrosa is one of only 7 known species alive today.
The species generally grows to about 20–30 mm in body length and approximately 1.5 grams in weight. Dorsally, these crickets have dark coloring, ranging from lighter hues of brown to black. Ventrally they are lighter in color, often being white or beige in color. This coloration likely evolved as a form of camouflage, helping the crickets blend in with the darker bark of coniferous trees, on which they spend a significant portion of their time. Like many crickets Cyphoderris montrosa males produce mating calls. They do so through stridulation, a process in which they scrape specialized file-like stimulatory organs located on their tegmina along scrapers located at the rear end of each of each opposite tegmen. In C. monstrosa these file like structures are evenly developed along each tegmen, with a rigid dorsal portion angled at 90 degrees to a rigid lateral portion. Both males and females also have a structure called... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jasper National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 2 | Banff National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 3 | Great Bear Rainforest | 🇨🇦 Canada |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Great Grig sighting in Banff National Park on a given day, based on 9 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 54th most-seen of the 105 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
June to August
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Great Grig in Banff National Park on a given day, against under 5% in September to May, the lowest months.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Great Grig sightings with a recorded time, and about 6 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is seen both by day and at night.
Among the best
Of the 3 parks where we can rate Great Grig sightings, Banff National Park ranks 2nd at about 10%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Jasper National Park (Canada, about 10%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Great Grig is recorded against all the insects logged in Banff National Park (9 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.
