What are the chances of seeing a Hippo Fly in Cape Town?
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Hippo Fly sighting in Cape Town on a given day, based on 6 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 264th most-seen of the 311 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
When is the best time to see a Hippo Fly in Cape Town?
December
In that month about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Hippo Fly in Cape Town on a given day, against under 5% in January to November, the lowest months. That is one of Cape Town's driest months, with about 20 mm of rain against 140 mm in June.
What time of day is best to see a Hippo Fly?
Between 1 and 4 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Hippo Fly sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Where else can you see a Hippo Fly?
Only Cape Town, in our data
Cape Town is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Hippo Fly sightings: under 5% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Which relatives of the Hippo Fly live in Cape Town?
Same order: Diptera
The closest relatives of the Hippo Fly that you can see in Cape Town (order Diptera, Flies) are Common Drone Fly (about 10%), Stripe-Eyed Lagoon Fly (about 10%) and Episyrphus trisectus (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
Where does the Hippo Fly sighting chance come from?
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Hippo Fly is recorded against all the insects logged in Cape Town (6 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.