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 Houston on a given day, based on 285 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 61st most-seen of the 1057 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.
June and July
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Northern Plushback in Houston on a given day, against under 5% in December to April, 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 10 cities where we can rate Northern Plushback sightings, Houston ranks 2nd at about 10%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic, about 10%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Northern Plushback is recorded against all the insects logged in Houston (285 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.
