Corythoxestis zorionella
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~30%
Corythoxestis zorionella, also known as the karamu leafminer, is a species of moth in the family Gracillariidae. It is endemic to New Zealand. The larvae feed on Coprosma arborea, Coprosma grandiflora, Coprosma lucida, Coprosma retusa, Coprosma robusta, and Coprosma tenuifolia. They mine the leaves of their host plant. The larva mines directly into the leaf through the bottom of the egg. The mine starts as a long, slender, slightly tortuous, gradually widening gallery. The first part being on the under-surface of the leaf, close against the cuticle, showing up white and silvery by reflected light. The remainder of the mine, however, is on the upper surface. In the last stage the gallery expands, more or less abruptly, into a large irregular blotch. It usually follows the midrib or margin of the leaf along its greater extent, sometimes being deflected by the coarser veins. In this manner its course may be slightly tortuous, but rarely markedly so. The midrib forms an impassable barrier except at its upper end. The colour of the mine is conspicuously white or light green, sometimes discoloured a bright reddish-brown, but patchy in character. That part of the leaf covering the blotch is, in fleshy leaves, more or less mottled in shades of green according to the closeness of the mine to the outer cuticle. The frass is exceedingly scanty, black, finely granular, occupies a thin line near one side of the gallery, sometimes abruptly changing from one side to the other. After the first moult the granules are irregularly scattered over the floor of the mine. Leaves are seldom found containing more than two mines. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Egmont National Park | 🇳🇿 New Zealand |
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Auckland | 🇳🇿 New Zealand |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Karamū Leafminer sighting in Auckland on a given day, based on 24 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 237th most-seen of the 689 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.
February–April, June and September–December
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Karamū Leafminer in Auckland on a given day, against under 5% in January, May and July–August, the lowest months.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Karamū Leafminer sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Auckland, in our data
Auckland is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Karamū Leafminer sightings: about 10% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same family: Gracillariidae
The closest relatives of the Karamū Leafminer that you can see in Auckland (family Gracillariidae, Leaf Blotch Miner Moths) are Echium Leaf Miner (about 10%), European Oak Leafminer (about 10%) and Acrocercops leucotoma (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Karamū Leafminer is recorded against all the insects logged in Auckland (24 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.
