Palpada vinetorum
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~50%
Palpada vinetorum is a species of syrphid fly in the family Syrphidae. It is a native flower fly species to North America, mainly found in Texas and parts of the east coast. Length 10 to 14mm. Head Frontal triangle covered with white pile. The middle frons with a thin brownish stripe and yellow brown pile to the eyes.; Sime blackish pile notednear the ocelli. The face is reddish-yellow with whitish pollen and pile on the sides. The median stripe (tubercle) and cheeks shining, somewhat brownish. Antennae reddish-yellow, arista bare. Eyes are Holoptic in male. The occiput is black above, white pile below.
Thorax Scutum has three distinct grayish-olivaceous crescent shaped bands over an opaque black base color., The first grey band is on the front border, the second just before the lateral suture, and the third, the broadest, is just in front of the scutellum, yellowish; pleurae are yellowish with grayish pollen. The scutellum is reddish-yellow with a lighter posterior border and long yellow pile along posterior edge.
Abdomen The first segment is black, reddish-yellow on the sides. The second segment has large reddish yellow lateral spots, not quite reaching... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Everglades National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Big Cypress National Preserve | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Santo Domingo | 🇩🇴 Dominican Republic | |
| 2 | Houston | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Miami | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Austin | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Dallas | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | San Antonio | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Orlando | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Monterrey | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 9 | Washington | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | New York City | 🇺🇸 United States |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Northern Plushback sighting in Big Cypress National Preserve on a given day, based on 8 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 154th most-seen of the 262 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
August and November–December
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Northern Plushback in Big Cypress National Preserve on a given day, against under 5% in January–July and September, the lowest months.
Between 11 am and 2 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Northern Plushback sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 3 parks where we can rate Northern Plushback sightings, Big Cypress National Preserve ranks 2nd at about 10%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Everglades National Park (United States, about 10%).
Same genus: Palpada
The closest relatives of the Northern Plushback that you can see in Big Cypress National Preserve (genus Palpada, Plushback Flies) are White-Faced Plushback (about 20%) and Double-Banded Plushback (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Northern Plushback is recorded against all the insects logged in Big Cypress National Preserve (8 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.
