Aphis lugentis
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
Aphis lugentis, sometimes referred to colloquially as the American ragwort aphid, is a true bug in the aphid family, which feeds on members of the Asteraceae family, particularly within the tribe senecioneae. It can be found naturally throughout most of the United States, except for the Northeast, and has recently been introduced outside of its native range.
Aptera can range in colour from dark yellow-brown, to dark olive or matte black. Aphis Lugentis is a relatively large aphid species, with apteral body length between 1.9 and 2.8 millimeters. This species can be found in dense, aggregated clusters of 50-200 individuals on their host plants, as opposed to less gregarious species such as the sycamore aphid.
Aphis lugentis belongs to the 'fabae' clade within the subgenus Aphis, which contains dark-coloured aphids with very similar morphology. Aphis lugentis can be distinguished from its sister species by its uniformly black appendages (Aphis fabae has light-coloured tibiae), large body length in aptera (Aphis senecionis, has a body length of 1.7-1.9mm), as well as its oligophagous diet (Aphis jacobaeae has a specific host preference for Jacobaea vulgaris syn. Senecio... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Auckland | 🇳🇿 New Zealand |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report an American Ragwort Aphid sighting in Auckland on a given day, based on 16 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 395th most-seen of the 689 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January–February and April
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report an American Ragwort Aphid in Auckland on a given day, against under 5% in March and May–December, the lowest months.
Only Auckland, in our data
Auckland is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate American Ragwort Aphid sightings: under 5% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the American Ragwort Aphid is recorded against all the insects logged in Auckland (16 verified sightings), 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.
