Ceroctis capensis
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%
Ceroctis capensis, or spotted blister beetle, is diurnal and endemic to Southern Africa occurring in diverse habitats, and belonging to the Meloidae or Blister beetle family. It secretes a toxic liquid from its leg joints when roughly handled, blistering human skin. This species somewhat resembles Mylabris oculata, a member of the same family.
This species is found on a wide variety of plants, flying between flowers and consuming floral parts, showing a preference for the legume family and Watsonia species. It has a body length of some 12 mm while its elytra are black with yellow spots, and head, antennae and legs are black.
Adults of the Meloidae are vegetarian, flying unhurriedly between plants, protected by their aposematic colours which warn of poison. Their larvae, though, parasitise or prey on locust egg packets, or consume the eggs, pollen and honey of bees. Newly hatched triungulin larvae climb up plant stalks where they emit pheromones similar to those of a female bee. They clamber onto duped male bees and transfer to female bees when mating takes place - the female bees then carry the larvae back to her nest. Other species lay their eggs at the entrance to the bee's nest.... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | De Hoop Nature Reserve | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 2 | Table Mountain National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 3 | Garden Route National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 4 | Addo Elephant National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cape Town | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Spotted Blisterbeetle sighting in Cape Town on a given day, based on 255 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 15th most-seen of the 311 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 70%, if each day is a fresh chance.
September
In that month about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Spotted Blisterbeetle in Cape Town on a given day, against under 5% in June and July, the lowest months.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Spotted Blisterbeetle sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Cape Town, in our data
Cape Town is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Spotted Blisterbeetle sightings: about 20% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same order: Coleoptera
The closest relatives of the Spotted Blisterbeetle that you can see in Cape Town (order Coleoptera, Beetles) are Lunate Lady Beetle (about 10%), Asian Lady Beetle (about 10%) and White-Spotted Fruit Chafer (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Spotted Blisterbeetle is recorded against all the insects logged in Cape Town (255 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.
