Exaireta spinigera
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~60%
Exaireta spinigera commonly known as the garden soldier fly or blue soldier fly. The species is a part of the Stratiomyidae family. The originally described holotype of the species was kept in the Berlin Museum and was discovered when Australia was still referred to as New Holland. The original taxonomic description of the species requires translation from German using the Fraktur alphabet.
Exaireta spinigera has an elongated abdomen with four yellow-tipped spikes that protrude from the scutellum, found near the thorax. It is black with violet undertones and shaded wings. The abdomen is also characterized by a metallic shine like other members of the Stratiomyidae family. Exaireta spinigera also sports typical Stratiomyidae antennae which are composed of three distinctive segments.
The length of the fly has been recorded between 14mm and 16mm. Historically it was noted the males were 9-10mm long with a 7-8mm wing length and females 13-15mm with an 11-12mm wing length. Both the larvae and fly form of Exaireta spinigera have a flattened-shaped body, which is also typical of the Stratiomyidae family but no other sources could be found describing the morphology of the... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lamington National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 2 | Royal National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 3 | Springbrook National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 4 | Blue Mountains National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 5 | Great Otway National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 6 | Pyrénées National Park | 🇫🇷 France |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Garden Soldier Fly sighting in Melbourne on a given day, based on 391 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 39th most-seen of the 875 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 60%, if each day is a fresh chance.
September and October
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Garden Soldier Fly in Melbourne on a given day, against about 10% in November to August, the lowest months.
Between noon and 3 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Garden Soldier Fly sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
2nd of 8
Of the 8 cities where we can rate Garden Soldier Fly sightings, Melbourne ranks 2nd at about 10%. The best odds are in Auckland (New Zealand, about 20%).
Same family: Stratiomyidae
The closest relatives of the Garden Soldier Fly that you can see in Melbourne (family Stratiomyidae, Soldier Flies) are Black Soldier Fly (about 10%) and Australian Wingless Soldier Fly (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Garden Soldier Fly is recorded against all the insects logged in Melbourne (391 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.
