Meliscaeva auricollis
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
Meliscaeva auricollis is a West Palearctic species of hoverfly. External images For terms see Morphology of Diptera Wing length 6-9·5 mm. Elongated body. Lunula yellow with a black mark above it. Facial knob or more black; wing. Alula triangular. Tergite 2 usually with small elongate yellow marks, or small triangular marks. Tergites 3 and 4 with a pair of spots or narrowly connected bands. Elongated body. The male terminalia are figured by Hippa (1968). Larva described and figured by Rotheray (1994).
See references for determination. Palearctic Fennoscandia South to Iberia, the Mediterranean basin. Ireland East through Europe into European parts of Russia and Turkey. Habitat: Deciduous, broad-leaved evergreen and coniferous forest. Flowers visited include white umbellifers, Arbutus unedo, Chaerophyllum, Euonymus, Euphorbia, Filipendula, Hedera, Rubus, Salix, Sorbus, Viburnum opulus.
The flight period is March to October (earlier and longer in southern Europe). The larva feeds on aphids or pysillids on trees. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Snowdonia National Park | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 2 | Pyrénées National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 3 | Cévennes National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 4 | Wadden Sea National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | London | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 2 | Birmingham | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 3 | Liverpool | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 4 | Leeds | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 5 | Athens | 🇬🇷 Greece | |
| 6 | Manchester | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 7 | Istanbul | 🇹🇷 Turkey | |
| 8 | Barcelona | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 9 | Rotterdam [The Hague] | 🇳🇱 Netherlands | |
| 10 | Rome | 🇮🇹 Italy |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Spotted Thintail sighting in Madrid on a given day, based on 15 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 218th most-seen of the 457 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.
March–May and October–November
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Spotted Thintail in Madrid on a given day, against under 5% in June–September and December–February, the lowest months. Those are among Madrid's wettest months, with about 50 mm of rain a month against 10 mm in July.
Between 2 and 5 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Spotted Thintail sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
13th of 18
Of the 18 cities where we can rate Spotted Thintail sightings, Madrid ranks 13th at under 5%. The best odds are in London (United Kingdom, about 10%), Birmingham (United Kingdom, about 10%) and Liverpool (United Kingdom, about 10%).
Same family: Syrphidae
The closest relatives of the Spotted Thintail that you can see in Madrid (family Syrphidae, Hover Flies) are Marmalade Hover Fly (about 10%), Tapered Drone Fly (about 10%) and Migrant Hover Fly (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Spotted Thintail is recorded against all the insects logged in Madrid (15 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.
