Philanisus plebeius
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
Philanisus plebeius is a species of marine caddisfly in the family Chathamiidae found in New Zealand and Australia. These insects have winged terrestrial adults, eggs are laid in starfish and aquatic larvae live in marine rock pools.
This species was first described by Francis Walker in 1852 from a single adult male specimen obtained by Dr. Sinclair from New Zealand. 'Plebeius' means common. Brauer described the same species in 1866 and pointed out the unusual maxillary palpi of males where the insertion of the third joint is well before the apex. F. W. Hutton discovered the larvae live in rock-pools in 1882.
Walker in his original description described this species as follows: Male. — Tawny, thinly clothed with tawny hairs : antennae testaceous, rather stout, slightly setaceous, much longer than the body : legs testaceous, long; fore-tibiae without spurs; hinder tibiae with two pairs of long spurs, one pair near the tips, the other at the tips : abdomen with two appendages at the tip : wings narrow; fore-wings slightly gray, with pale brown marks or interrupted bands : hind-wings subhyaline. Length of the body 2+1⁄2 — 2+3⁄4 lines; of the wings 7... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rakiura National Park | 🇳🇿 New Zealand |
More parks will be added in future updates.
No species of the same family or order lives in Melbourne, so these are its closest relatives here: other insects.
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Common Marine Caddisfly sighting in Melbourne on a given day, based on 15 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 537th most-seen of the 875 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.
Any time of year
In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Common Marine Caddisfly in Melbourne on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.
Between 5 and 8 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Common Marine Caddisfly sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Yes
Of the 2 cities where we can rate Common Marine Caddisfly sightings, Melbourne has the highest daily chance: under 5%. Next come Sydney (Australia, under 5%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Common Marine Caddisfly is recorded against all the insects logged in Melbourne (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.
