Asphondylia auripila
In 3 days ~50% in a week ~80%
Asphondylia auripila, the large creosote gall midge, is a species of gall midge in the family Cecidomyiidae. This species utilizes creosote bushes as host plants for forming galls. This species of midge can be found in southwestern North America, spanning around U.S. and Mexico states such as California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, Texas, Sonora, Chihuahua, Baja California, and Baja California Sur. The habitat of this species is based in deserts, spanning from the Mojave Desert to the Baja California Desert and Chihuahuan Desert of Mexico. Adults grow around 4 millimeters in length and appear brown-orange in coloration, but can be difficult to tell apart from other species due to looking morphologically similar. The galls of this midge can be identified by their spherical shape, bushy/leafy appearance, and green coloration for developing midges. Galls begin to turn brown after fully developed midges emerge. These midges create galls when females utilize their ovipositor to insert eggs into the host plant along with a fungal spore from the mycangia (A specialized body part used for transporting fungi). This fungi causes the plant to begin growing a gall while the fungal mycelium grows to line the inside of the gall. The eggs inside then hatch and the larvae feed on the mycelium before eventually developing into adults and emerge from the gall. The galls do not appear to cause the host plant any harm. The emergence of adults is timed with the host plants periods of growth associated with winter, spring, or summer rain fall. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Death Valley National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Joshua Tree National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Big Bend National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Saguaro National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Large Creosote Gall Midge sighting in Big Bend National Park on a given day, based on 62 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 28th most-seen of the 329 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 50%, and over a week to about 80%, if each day is a fresh chance.
November to January
In those months about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Large Creosote Gall Midge in Big Bend National Park on a given day, against about 10% in February, June and August–September, the lowest months.
Between 11 am and 2 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Large Creosote Gall Midge sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
3rd of 4
Of the 4 parks where we can rate Large Creosote Gall Midge sightings, Big Bend National Park ranks 3rd at about 20%. The best odds are in Death Valley National Park (United States, about 60%) and Joshua Tree National Park (United States, about 40%). All parks ranked.
Same order: Diptera
The closest relatives of the Large Creosote Gall Midge that you can see in Big Bend National Park (order Diptera, Flies) are Yellow-Spotted Bromeliad Fly (about 10%), Diacrita costalis (about 10%) and Copestylum marginatum (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Large Creosote Gall Midge is recorded against all the insects logged in Big Bend National Park (62 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.
